Department for Transport

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the steps he is taking to increase the availability of electric vehicle charging points.

Trudy Harrison: Government works closely with the devolved administrations on supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles across the whole of the UK. Regular discussions about chargepoints as well as other measures to support electric vehicles are held on an ongoing basis with the Welsh Government. For example, officials continue to engage closely on the upcoming consumer experience regulations for public chargepoints in the UK.

Bus Services: Finance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2022 to Question 14617, how much of the £525 million funding to deliver zero emissions buses has been allocated to local authorities as at 8 June 2022; and how much of that funding has been spent by local authorities on expenditure other than that which will deliver zero emissions buses.

Trudy Harrison: We are providing over £525 million funding for zero emissions buses overthis Parliament.In March 2021, the Government awarded £50 million of funding to the West Midlands Combined Authority to support the Coventry All Electric Bus City.The Government has also announced nearly £270 million funding from the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme to 17 areas.As set out in the guidance for the All Electric Bus City and ZEBRA schemes, the funding awarded was conditional on local transport authorities delivering on the business cases. The remaining funding will be allocated over the three year spending review period.

Bus Services: Finance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June to Question 14617, with reference to the £1.1 billion funding for bus transformation deals for local transport authorities, how much (a) has been allocated to local authorities as at 8 June 2022, and (b) has been spent by local authorities on expenditure other than that which will deliver (i) London-style fares, (ii) infrastructure, or (iii) service improvements.

Trudy Harrison: On 4 April 2022 the Government announced indicative funding allocations totalling over £1 billion to thirty-one Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to deliver Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs), as part of £3 billion for buses over the course of this Parliament. Confirmation and release of the funding is conditional on LTAs providing satisfactory plans showing how they intend to spend that funding, and submission of draft Enhanced Partnerships, Enhanced Partnership variations, or franchising delivery plans by 1 July.

Cars: Excise Duties

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people who apply to the DVLA for car tax are eligible for a discount due to receiving benefits.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long it takes for people to apply to the DVLA for car tax via post where they are eligible to receive a discount due to receiving benefits and  ineligible to apply online or at the Post Office.

Trudy Harrison: All postal applications for Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are being processed within normal turnaround times of 10 working days.Data on the number of applications received from customers eligible for a reduction in VED due to receiving benefits is not available.

Fuels: Prices

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made on the implications for his policies of the effect of rising fuel prices on the viability of independent (a) road haulage and (b) coach businesses.

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on specific support for (a) the road haulage industry and (b) the coach industry to help meet rising fuel costs.

Trudy Harrison: The Secretary of State announced in the Spring further funding to support the local transport system and he continues to regularly engage with Cabinet colleagues to consider what further support Government can provide in these challenging times. Following 12 consecutive freezes on fuel duty, the Chancellor recently announced a 12-month cut to fuel duty of 5p per litre and the Business Secretary has recently asked the Competition and Market Authority to undertake an urgent review of fuel prices which is underway.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of public electric vehicle charge points that have been delivered with funding from (a) the private sector, (b) local authorities and (c) central government in each of the last five years.

Trudy Harrison: The total number of public electric vehicle chargepoints in the UK, as of 01 January, for each of the last 5 years, is given in the table below:Year20182019202020212022Total7,21110,30916,50520,77528,375Source: DfT/Zap MapThe total number of public electric vehicle chargepoints in the UK, funded through the OZEV On-Street Residential ChargePoint scheme (ORCS), for each of the last 5 financial years is given in the table below:Year2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/22Total504271,0991,01550ORCS grants are offered to successful applicants, but funds are only released upon final completion of installation. These figures only include charging devices that have been installed and claimed for.In 2016 government awarded £40m to eight local authorities to support the delivery of a wide range of innovative chargepoint solutions in their areas. The total number of chargepoints delivered is provided in the table below. This includes fast and rapid chargepoints.Local AuthorityChargepointsBristol City Council179Dundee City Council30Transport for London4,300Milton Keynes Council156North East28Nottingham City Council229Oxford City Council46York City Council38The Department’s data on the total number of public electric vehicle chargepoints comes from Zap-Map. We are unable to determine from this data which of the public chargepoints were delivered through funding from (a) the private sector or (b) local authorities.While the Department publishes data on the number of chargepoints delivered through funding for domestic and workplace grant schemes, these charge points are not intended for public use.

DVLA

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department are assigned to respond to casework enquiries sent by hon. Members to the DVLA.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a core of 63 members of staff who work on responding to correspondence and enquiries from hon. Members. This includes those staff who work on the dedicated telephone line the DVLA provides for hon. Members. More staff will be involved in this work from across the DVLA on an ad hoc basis, depending on the nature of the specific query.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the 300,000 public electric vehicle charge points that his Department plans to be delivered by 2030 by (a) private sector investment, (b) local authority investment and (c) investment from central Government.

Trudy Harrison: We do not have estimates broken down by types of investment.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the effect on rail users of scheduled Manchester rail timetable changes due to take effect in December 2022.

Wendy Morton: The Government set up the Manchester Recovery Task Force in January 2020 to address the unacceptable levels of train performance in the north west of England following the late change to the May 2018 timetable.The task force, which includes Transport for the North and Transport for Greater Manchester, consulted on a number of options and took account of the more than 800 responses to identify the optimal service for users and the Northern economy.Northern Trains and TransPennine Express, working with Network Rail and other train operators, used this assessment to develop the timetable which will come into force in December 2022 and which will improve performance significantly while still meeting the journey needs of the vast majority of regular travellers on lines into Manchester.

Freight Facilities Grant

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to take steps to increase funding and beneficiaries of the Freight Facilities Grant for capital equipment.

Wendy Morton: Government remains strongly committed to modal shift and continues to operate two freight revenue grant schemes (£20m per year allocated for 2022/23 to 2024/25) to support: the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme for modal shift to rail and inland waterways; and Waterborne Freight Grants for coastal and short sea shipping. These grants help to remove around 900,000 HGV journeys off the road each year.

Railways: Females

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to help ensure the safety of female passengers on the rail network.

Wendy Morton: The Department works closely with rail industry partners to improve women's safety. The rail industry has established work programmes to tackle violence against women and girls, including targeted training of frontline staff and improved access to reporting.In March this year, the Government’s independent Violence against Women and Girls Transport Champions, Laura Shoaf (Chief Executive, West Midlands Combined Authority) and Anne Shaw (Executive Director, Transport for West Midlands), published 13 recommendations – informed by stakeholder engagement – to further improve the safety of women and girls on the transport network, including rail.The Department welcomed the ambition of the recommendations and is now working with partners from across Government and the transport industry – including rail – to deliver against them. This includes supporting the National Sexual Harassment on Rail campaign and the Rail to Refuge scheme.

Railways: Strikes

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times he has met with members of the leadership of the RMT union since his appointment.

Wendy Morton: Ministers and officials meet regularly with the RMT on a variety of matters.

Passengers

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish (a) his Department’s projections for passenger (i) usage and (ii) revenue over the first half of 2022 and (b) the actual figures for growth in passenger (A) usage and (B) revenue for that period.

Wendy Morton: In line with our published guidance, the Department has developed several scenarios of possible rail demand to reflect uncertainty including how passengers respond post-covid-19. The Department considers a wide range of evidence for our project appraisals and policy decisions.The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes statistics on rail passenger journeys and revenue. The latest statistics cover the period to end March 2022. These are available at https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/passenger-rail-usage/The ORR plan to publish rail passenger usage for the period covering April to June 2022 in October.

Railways: Strikes

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date he first became aware of the likelihood of a nation-wide rail strike occurring in June 2022.

Wendy Morton: The RMT notified employers of the strike action on 7 June.

Railways: Strikes

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Network Rail and (b) train operating companies on resolving potential further rail strikes.

Wendy Morton: The Secretary of State is in close contact with the industry on the negotiations and engages with them almost daily.

National Rail: Contracts

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the rail industry (a) dispute handling policy, (b) reward and people principles document and (c) employment policy framework as referenced in National Rail Contracts.

Wendy Morton: There is no ‘rail industry’ wide Reward and People Principles document. Likewise, there is no ‘rail industry’ Employment Policy Framework. The definition of both Reward and People Principles and Employment Policy Framework in the operator contracts is broad, and there are likely to be a number of documents that fall within the definition.

Train Operating Companies: Industrial Disputes

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date he set the mandate for train operating companies to negotiate with the rail unions on pay and employment conditions.

Wendy Morton: The RMT has demanded talks take place first at a national level rather than with individual train operating companies. Discussions are therefore taking place at national level under the auspices of the Rail Industry Recovery Group.

Train Operating Companies: Staff

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings from overall staffing costs have been sought from the train Operating Companies for each financial year until 2025.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what savings from overall staffing costs have been sought from Network Rail for each financial year until 2025.

Wendy Morton: The Government has earmarked significant support, £16 billion, to keep train services running since the start of the pandemic and keep people in jobs during the height of lockdowns, the equivalent to £600 for every family in the UK and £160,000 for every rail worker. If recent shortfalls in passenger demand and revenue are maintained, this represents a £2 billion per annum loss in revenue. We do not think it is fair to continue providing the industry with an increased subsidy from taxpayers at a time when there is pressure on everyone’s finances.We have asked Network Rail, train operators and the industry to consider all options to make the railway sustainable for the long term. Staffing costs is just one area of a wide range of reforms and changes. We need an agile workforce that can deliver for passengers. These reforms will make the railway more efficient, delivering more effectively for passengers and taxpayers.

Aviation: Contracts

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to consult on the introduction of a limitation on UK-based airlines using non UK-based sub-contractors for passenger flights originating in the UK.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the impact on the economy of UK-based airlines using non-UK-based sub-contractors for passenger flights originating in the UK.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of potential change in the (a) number and (b) average earnings of (i) CAA licensed pilots and (ii) UK-resident aircrew as a result of UK-based airlines utilising non UK-based sub-contractors on an aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) basis for passenger flights originating in the UK.

Robert Courts: UK airlines lease aircraft and crew from foreign airlines to provide additional capacity, often during the summer holiday peak. The flexibility to bring in additional capacity for limited periods is welcomed by the UK’s largest carriers to manage seasonal peaks or when aircraft and crew are otherwise unavailable. This summer has seen an increase in this type of activity for several reasons including shortage of aircraft and of cabin crew. How the leasing of foreign aircraft and crew develops is something we will keep under review as the market recovers and evolves following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Railways: Concessions

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June to Question 19580 on Railways: Concessions, whether his Department undertakes cross-data analysis with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that people applying for veterans railcards are veterans.

Wendy Morton: The documents needed to apply for a Veteran’s Railcard are set out on the Veteran’s Railcard Website: https://www.veterans-railcard.co.uk/are-you-eligible/Verifying the eligibility of applicants and the validity of their documents is a matter for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG). The department is not responsible for processing railcard applications and does not, therefore, conduct cross-data analysis with the Ministry of Defence on Veteran’s Railcard applications.We urge anyone who is aware of any incidences of fraud to contact the RDG and relevant authorities.

Railways: Tickets

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of his Department's £360 million investment to transform rail ticketing outside of London and the South East has been spent to date.

Wendy Morton: In the three months since the beginning of this Spending Review period, the programme focus has been on developing the detailed technical and commercial work to inform business cases and future procurements to transform rail ticketing.

Railway Stations: Davenport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to help ensure step-free access at Davenport station.

Wendy Morton: Davenport station will receive Access for All funding as part of a 23 station package of works across Greater Manchester with a £1m contribution towards minor accessibility improvements. This work is anticipated to be completed by July 2023.I am committed to improving access at all stations and have recently launched the next round of nominations for the Access for All programme. I welcome nominations for any station in Great Britain currently without step-free access.

Trams: Greater Manchester

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has allocated funding for a Bolton-Bury tramline project.

Wendy Morton: In November 2020, the Government awarded £50,000 of Restoring Your Railway Ideas funding to Transport for Greater Manchester to develop a Strategic Outline Business Case to reinstate passenger services on the Bolton-Radcliffe/Bolton-Bury line. The SOBC was submitted to the Department on 21st June 2022 and will be assessed in the coming months.

Trams: Greater Manchester

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer given on 24 March 2021 to Question 172052, on Trams: Greater Manchester, and the Answer given on 21 February 2022 to Question 122629, on Manchester Metrolink: Bolton, what progress has been made on the progress of the Bolton-Bury tramline.

Wendy Morton: In November 2020, the Government awarded £50,000 of Restoring Your Railway Ideas funding to Transport for Greater Manchester to develop a Strategic Outline Business Case to reinstate passenger services on the Bolton-Radcliffe/Bolton-Bury line. The SOBC was submitted to the Department on 21st June 2022 and will be assessed in the coming months.

Railways: Strikes

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what dates he or other Ministers in his Department met with officials from the RMT union in the last 12 months.

Wendy Morton: Ministers and officials regularly meet with the RMT on a variety of matters.

Park and Ride Schemes

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to promote park-and-ride schemes at rail and tube stations.

Andrew Stephenson: Rail station parking capacity is a matter for the relevant station operator and Network Rail. All station operators should consider the views of local authority partners on this issue.

Electric Scooters: Visually Impaired

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he is undertaking on the potential impact of e-scooters on people who are visually impaired.

Trudy Harrison: The Department is working with groups representing disabled people, including the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee and the Inclusive Transport Stakeholder Group, to review options for e-scooter regulations.The Department is gathering data on e-scooters through trials in 30 areas, where measures have been put in place to improve safety for disabled people and people with sight loss, such as requiring ​e-scooters to have a bell or a horn so that they are audible. Additionally, the Department has instructed all local authorities participating in trials to engage with disability groups in their area throughout the trial period to ensure their concerns are being heard.The Department will consult publicly before any secondary regulations for e-scooters and the rental schemes are made.

Aviation: Compensation

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the level of compliance of airlines in compensating passengers for delayed or cancelled flights; and what steps he plans to take to increase compliance.

Robert Courts: There is a framework of legislation in place to protect consumer rights when travelling by air, including when and what compensation is due in the event of cancellations and long delays, and airlines are obliged to provide passengers about their rights in those situations. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as the Regulator for aviation, are responsible for the enforcement activities. They conduct assessments of industry and take forward action if breaches are found. The Government works closely with the CAA and will continue to do so. We recently consulted on a range of consumer policy reforms, including additional powers for the CAA to enforce consumer rights and mandatory alternative dispute resolution for all airlines operating in the UK, to enable individuals to seek redress. We are currently reviewing all responses and will set out next steps in due course.

Aviation: Compensation

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the level of compliance of airlines with their obligations to supply passengers with (a) food and (b) other essentials in the event of delayed or cancelled flights; and what steps he plans to take to increase compliance.

Robert Courts: There is a framework of legislation in place to protect consumer’s rights when travelling by air, including a passenger’s right to care. In the event of flight cancellations and long delays, airlines are obliged to offer passengers free of charge meals and refreshments, and in certain cases hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other). Airlines are also obliged to provide passengers about their rights in those situations.The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as the Regulator for aviation, are responsible for the enforcement activities. They conduct assessments of industry and take forward action if breaches are found. The Government works closely with the CAA and will continue to do so.We recently consulted on a range of consumer policy reforms, including additional powers for the CAA to enforce consumer rights and mandatory alternative dispute resolution for all airlines operating in the UK, to enable individuals to seek redress. We are currently reviewing all responses and will set out next steps in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Heat Pumps

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of heat pumps sold in the UK were (a) manufactured and (b) imported to the UK in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

Greg Hands: The latest data available is from the BEIS commissioned Heat Pump Manufacturing Supply Chain Research Project, which found that approximately 30 per cent of heat pumps sold in the UK in 2019 were manufactured domestically. The report also noted that this is expected to increase over time as the market matures.

Question

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to reduce petrol and diesel prices.

Greg Hands: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Strangford on 17th June 2022 to Question 14492.

Energy Company Obligation

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the details of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) Scheme to help householders will be released.

Greg Hands: The Statutory Instrument for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) Scheme was laid in Parliament on 22 June and is subject to the affirmative procedure. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has published ECO4 scoring details is expected to publish other delivery and administrative guidance in the coming weeks.

Renewable Energy

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what Government grants or support are available for (a) residential and (b) commercial properties for (i) solar, (ii) wind and (iii) ground source heat energy.

Greg Hands: Schemes including the Local Authority Delivery, Home Upgrade Grant, and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund enable installing solar panels and ground source heat pumps. VAT on installing solar panels, including with storage in Great Britain’s residential settings is now 0%. The Smart Export Guarantee enables small-scale renewable electricity generators, including from solar panels and small wind turbines, to receive payment for what they export. The Government offers tax-relief to businesses installing solar panels, including for onsite-renewable generation, and will review existing permitted development rights that, subject to conditions, allow solar on and around domestic and commercial buildings without planning permission.

Boilers: Heating

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the findings of openDemocracy on the disparity between (a) the time it takes for some biomass boilers to pay for themselves and (b) owners continuing to receive payments in excess of the cost of fuel, if he will take steps to (i) identify and (ii) retrospectively reduce payments to people who are in receipt of a subsidy for heating systems that have already returned to the owner the cost of their installation.

Greg Hands: The Government has no plans to stop or reduce retrospectively tariff payments for existing Renewable Heat Incentive participants.

Electricity Generation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there is sufficient network capacity for the increased demand for (a) electric heating from 2025 and (b) electric vehicle charging from 2023.

Greg Hands: As set out in its British Energy Security Strategy, the Government is committed to accelerating the process of building and connecting electricity network infrastructure to accommodate both new clean, affordable generation and demand. This includes working with Ofgem, network companies and the supply chain to dramatically reduce timelines for delivering strategic onshore transmission infrastructure and to speed up connections to the local distribution networks.

Energy Company Obligation

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help minimise disruption to the wider supply chain during the transition from Energy Company Obligation 3 to Energy Company Obligation 4.

Greg Hands: The Government introduced ECO3 Interim Delivery to help with the transition between ECO3 and ECO4 and to prevent a supply chain hiatus,. As suppliers and installers are familiar with ECO3 requirements, this has provided greater certainty prior to the regulations and final guidance. In discussions, energy suppliers have confirmed that they have been using ECO3 Interim Delivery. In addition, Ofgem has published the Full Project Scores and Partial Project Scores in advance of ECO4. This gives industry certainty on what ECO4 activities will be commercially worthwhile, helping to guide suppliers in planning and contracting.

P&O Ferries: Redundancy

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 19 April 2022 to Question 151160 on P&O Ferries: Redundancy, whether the investigations by the Insolvency Service have been completed; and whether any prosecutions have commenced.

Paul Scully: The Insolvency Service has confirmed that the investigations into the circumstances surrounding the redundancies made by P&O Ferries are ongoing. As such no further comment or information can be provided at this time.

Hospitality Industry: Vacancies

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help mitigate the potential economic impact of staff shortages in the hospitality sector in the short-term.

Paul Scully: I recognise that staff shortages remain an issue, and we are supporting the sector to understand what more we can do domestically. We want to see employers make long-term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad. The Government encourage all sectors to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers by offering training, career options, wage increases, and investment. This Department’s Hospitality Strategy focuses on domestic solutions to support the sector’s recovery. I intend to publish an update shortly to set out the progress made against the Strategy so far and proposed next steps.

Innovation: Strathclyde

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on launching the Innovation Accelerator in the Glasgow city region, as announced in the Levelling Up White Paper; and if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Glasgow city region Innovation Accelerator on Inverclyde constituency.

George Freeman: Innovation Accelerators are a pilot approach to supporting three UK city regions, including Glasgow, to become major, globally competitive centres for research and innovation. In Glasgow, a locally led partnership convened by the Glasgow City Region, involving leaders in local government, business and R&D institutions, supported by UK Government and R&D funders, is making good progress in developing a plan to boost innovation and attract new R&D investment. Funding for Innovation Accelerators will run for the duration of the Spending Review and we will put in place a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess their impact

Coronavirus: Medical Treatments and Vaccination

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the effect of pharmaceutical companies control of intellectual property on UK capacity to manufacturing covid-19 (a) vaccines and (b) therapeutic treatments.

George Freeman: The Government considers that the Intellectual Property (IP) framework has played an essential and positive role in the response to the pandemic. It has provided confidence for pharmaceutical innovators to both invest in R&D and form collaborative manufacturing partnerships, built upon trust and cooperation, thereby driving innovation. These voluntary licensing and technology transfer partnerships, have contributed to the rapid production of COVID-19 technologies, including unprecedented levels of manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines. IP has and will continue to allow us to meet our ultimate goal of saving lives.

Housing: Energy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating new funding to support retrofitting housing stock with renewable energy, home insulation or heating transition.

Greg Hands: As set out in the Government’s Net Zero Strategy, meeting Net Zero requires the buildings sector to be decarbonised by 2050. This means improving the energy performance of homes and gradually phasing out fossil fuel heating. The Government has therefore committed £6.6 billion through schemes such as the Home Upgrade Grant, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Boiler Upgrade Scheme.The Government will continue to look at ways to make UK homes more comfortable and cheaper to run.

Attorney General

Road Traffic Offences: Prosecutions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Crown Prosecution Service takes when deciding to prosecute defendants of road death offences.

Alex Chalk: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), in making its decision on whether or not a case should be prosecuted, will always apply the two-stage test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors (the Code). The Code is issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under section 10 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985. The Code gives guidance to prosecutors on the general principles to be applied when making decisions about prosecutions. The first stage (the evidential stage) requires the prosecutor to be satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of conviction on the evidence. The second stage (the public interest stage) requires the prosecutor to be satisfied that the prosecution is in the public interest. The case will not proceed unless both stages of the test are met. The CPS provides legal guidance to assist prosecutors in charging cases involving fatal road traffic collisions. It outlines the charging standards and factors for consideration when prosecution decisions are taken. In order to ensure consistency of approach, charging decisions in all fatal collision cases are required to be approved by a Chief Crown Prosecutor (CCP), a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor (DCCP), or a senior decision-maker nominated for the role by the CCP or DCCP.

Department of Health and Social Care

Cystic Fibrosis: Mental Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of (a) paediatric and (b) adult cystic fibrosis centres in England did not provide at least 85 per cent of their patients with psychological support at their annual review, in each year since 2015.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Dentistry

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2022 to Question 18862, how many registered NHS dentists there were in each year from 2011 to 2021.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Endometriosis: Diagnosis

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy a commitment to average diagnosis time for endometriosis to one year.

Maria Caulfield: Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions will be addressed in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy.Endometriosis can only be definitively diagnosed through a laparoscopy under general anaesthetic and it can be more appropriate to treat mild symptoms of endometriosis without a definitive diagnosis.

Evusheld

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of stock of Evusheld held by NHS England.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Evusheld

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase the availability of Evusheld to immunocompromised people in the event of future waves of covid-19.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fertility: Employment

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to workplaces on implementing  a workplace policy based on recognition of infertility as a medical condition.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has no plans to issue guidance to workplaces on implementing a specific workplace policy based on recognition of infertility as a medical condition. However, the Health and Safety Executive provides guidance to support employers in assessing any health or safety risks to workers and making reasonable adjustments to support them in the workplace.

Fertility: General Practitioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve the awareness of GPs of fertility issues.

Maria Caulfield: General practitioners are responsible for updating their clinical knowledge and identifying learning needs through continuing professional development. This should take into account new research and developments in guidance, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, to ensure high quality care is provided to all patients. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority also plan to engage with the Royal College of General Practitioners to promote increased awareness of fertility issues.

Fertility: Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring that (a) fertility and (b) infertility are covered in the PHSE curriculum.

Maria Caulfield: We have had no specific discussions. The British Fertility Society has engaged with the Government to develop its Fertility Education Initiative, which aims to improve the knowledge of fertility and reproductive health in the United Kingdom.The improvement of education and information provision for women and healthcare professionals and fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and post-natal support will be addressed in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy.

Dental Services: Equality

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that people have equal access to dental services.

Maria Caulfield: Between April and June 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked practices to deliver at least 95% of contracted units of dental activity to improve access for patients safely. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with stakeholders, including the British Dental Association (BDA), to improve the National Health Service dental system and negotiations are currently underway on initial measures. This aims to improve patient access, reduce health inequalities and make the NHS a more attractive place to work for dentists. An additional £50 million was allocated for NHS dentistry for the final quarter of 2021/22 to provide urgent care to patients. This was targeted at appointments for patients in most need of urgent dental treatment, including vulnerable groups and children. In addition, Health Education England’s Dental Education Reform Programme is reviewing areas with a shortage of dental provision, to address inequalities in access.

Dentistry: Resignations

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of dentists who have left NHS service in the latest period for which data is available.

Maria Caulfield: No specific estimate has been made. Dental contract holders are responsible for ensuring that practices are appropriately staffed with dentists and other dental care professionals to deliver the contracted activity.

Joint Replacements: Waiting Lists

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of average waiting times for joint replacement surgery in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and what steps his Department is taking to (i) clear backlogs and (ii) reduce average waiting times for joint replacement surgery in those areas.

Edward Argar: No specific estimate has been made of waiting times in Coventry and the West Midlands as this information is not collected at city or sub-region level. As of April 2022, the median average waiting time for trauma and orthopaedic treatment across England, which includes joint replacement surgery, was 14.7 weeks. This is a reduction of approximately 39% compared to August 2020.We are providing more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund, to increase activity in elective services. This could deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million checks, scans and procedures, including for patients awaiting joint replacements.

Community Diagnostic Centres: Staff

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of community diagnostic hubs; and ensure that those hubs are adequately staffed.

Edward Argar: We have committed £2.3 billion to launch up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) by March 2025, with more than 90 CDCs currently in operation in England. National Health Service regions are working with ICSs, diagnostic networks and primary care services to determine the location and configuration of services, based on the needs of the local population. NHS England and Health Education England (HEE) are ensuring that there is sufficient workforce capacity for CDCs in the appropriate roles and locations. NHS England and HEE are increasing capacity through sharing good practice across the professions, ensuring CDCs are staffed with the appropriate skills and promoting the retention of staff and health and wellbeing.

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people under the age of 25 (a) receiving  and (b) awaiting inpatient treatment for eating disorders in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: As of 30 April 2022, there were 519 children and young people and 171 adults aged 24 years old and under with an eating disorder occupying an inpatient bed. No estimate has been made of the number of people awaiting inpatient treatment for an eating disorder.

Social Security Benefits

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on raising the (a) Minimum Income Guarantee and (b) other welfare payments in the 2023-24 financial year.

Gillian Keegan: While we have had no specific discussions, we will work with the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that any decision on uprating the social care allowances is informed by the uprating of other welfare payments. The level of the Minimum Income Guarantee is reviewed on an annual basis. The next review is due in January 2023 and will be published in the Local Authority Circular.

Department of Health and Social Care: Recruitment

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on external recruitment consultants in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021; how many full time equivalent posts were filled as a result of that expenditure; and how many of those posts were filled by individuals recruited from outside the civil service.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare of 15 March and 18 May2022 on behalf of my constituent,Rachael Craggs on covid isolation rules.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 28 June 2022.

Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2022 to Question 14494, on Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, whether the (a) minutes and (b) further details of those meetings are in the public domain.

Edward Argar: The minutes of Operational Review meetings and the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access’ metrics pack are currently available through an internal Departmental collaboration tool, which is shared with stakeholders in industry. However, we plan to make this information available via GOV.UK in the near future.

Members: Correspondence

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 20 September 2021 from the Rt hon. Member for South West Surrey in his capacity as Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee on the Committee's report entitled The treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities, HC 21, published on 13 July 2021.

Gillian Keegan: We replied to the Rt. hon. Member on 20 October 2021.

Department of Health and Social Care: Consultants

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The information requested is shown in the following table.2020/212019/212018/192017/182016/17£'000£'000£'000£'000£'000171,61315,20319,82912,4024,485 Source: Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and AccountsThe information for 2021/22 will be published in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22 later this year.

Health Professions: Migrant Workers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what provision he has put in place for health and care professionals who arrive in UK to learn clinical language and processes when entering roles in the NHS.

Edward Argar: The language requirements to gain United Kingdom professional registration is a matter for the nine independent professional regulators. Employers should ensure that there is appropriate induction support for new staff.

Integrated Care Boards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with shadow ICS Boards over the responsibilities that they will be required to take on in 2023.

Edward Argar: Under the Health and Care Act 2022, 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) will be established on 1 July 2022. ICBs will take on the commissioning functions of existing clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as well as delegated responsibility for primary medical services. Nine ICBs will also have delegated responsibility for one or more pharmaceutical services, general ophthalmic services and dental services.As required by the Act, CCGs have worked with designate ICB leaders and engaged with local stakeholders to develop constitutions for each ICB and submitted these proposals to NHS England. While Ministers have engaged with designate chairs and chief executives, NHS England will ensure that leaders are aware of ICBs’ responsibilities.

Paediatrics: Palliative Care

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to increase the number of paediatric palliative care consultants in England; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: There are currently no nationally planned targeted recruitment campaigns for paediatric palliative care consultants. Individual National Health Service trusts are responsible for the recruitment of local staff, including medical consultants. In 2022, 98.5% of specialty training posts in paediatrics have been filled by Health Education England.We have increased the number of medical school places in England by 25% from 6,000 to 7,500 per year, to ensure a sustainable supply of paediatric palliative care consultants in future years. In February 2022, there were 9,562 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in the specialty group of paediatrics in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England. This is an increase of 33%) since February 2010 and includes 3,957 FTE consultants, an increase of 65.9% since February 2010.

NHS: Car Allowances

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to re-evaluate mileage allowance rates for (a) community nurses and (b) other NHS staff in the context of the rising cost of living.

Edward Argar: The reimbursement of travel costs for community nurses and other National Health Service staff is addressed by the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and the NHS trades unions. The current rate for staff who use their vehicles to make journeys in the performance of their duties is 56 pence per mile, above the HM Revenue and Customs’ approved mileage rate of 45 pence per mile. This rate reduces after 3,500 miles to 20 pence per mile. The NHS Terms and Conditions sets out the process for reviewing the rate of reimbursement every six months, including reviewing fluctuations in fuel prices. The NHS Staff Council recently published a statement to facilitate local discussions on temporary options, which is available at the following link: https://www.nhsemployers.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/009%20NHS%20SC%20-%20Joint%20statement%20on%20reimbursement%20of%20travel%20costs%20in%20England%20MAY%202022.pdf The statement includes a commitment for the NHS Staff Council to write to the Department to seek a remit to undertake and set out the scope for a possible review.

Health Professions: Racial Discrimination

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the British Medical Association’s report entitled, Delivering racial equality in medicine, what steps he is taking to (a) protect and support medical professionals from racist abuse and (b) help ensure Black and Ethnic Minority groups are not dissuaded from pursuing medical careers.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service Civility and Respect programme aims to tackle discrimination, bullying and harassment in the NHS and to create positive workplace cultures.The NHS is improving recruitment processes and career opportunities for all staff, including medical professionals, from ethnic minority backgrounds. The Medical Workforce Racial Equality Standard report in 2020 showed that the number of black and minority ethnic doctors increased by 21.1% compared to 2017. We have accepted the recommendations from the ‘Leadership for a collaborative and inclusive future’ review into health and social care leadership in full. The recommendations include embedding inclusive leadership practice as the responsibility of all and promoting equal opportunity and fairness standards to tackle discrimination.

Dentistry: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with dental schools on the availability of clinical placements for dental students.

Edward Argar: Officials have regular discussions with dental school representative bodies and individual dental schools on a range of issues. We are working with Health Education England (HEE), to ensure that dental trainees have access to the appropriate training opportunities.From 2020 to 2023, HEE is investing £32 million to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on dental training, including the availability of clinical placements.

Integrated Care Systems

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to ensure that local general practitioners are consulted ahead of the transition from clinical commissioning groups to integrated care systems.

Edward Argar: Under the Health and Care Act 2022, 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) will be established on 1 July 2022. ICBs will take on the commissioning functions of existing clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and delegated responsibility for primary medical services. As required by the Act, CCGs have worked with designate ICB leaders in developing the constitutions for each ICB and shared these proposals with NHS England. As a minimum, CCGs were required to consult with the relevant National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts, primary care representatives, local Healthwatch and relevant local authorities. In addition, there has been consultation where general practitioners jointly nominate one or more members of the ICB board.

Protective Clothing: Contracts

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 April 2022 to Question 122676 on Protective Clothing: Contracts, what systems the Government used to record the results of the due diligence checks on suppliers of PPE during the covid-19 outbreak.

Edward Argar: The results were recorded by several Government departments, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence. In the absence of a single, integrated system, financial due diligence was recorded locally using bespoke systems and processes, such as Microsoft Office applications, Atamis, Mendix and Defence Share.

Prescriptions: Pensioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had on aligning prescription changes in England with the State Pension Age.

Edward Argar: We have had no recent discussions. No decisions on the proposals have yet been made. We will respond to the consultation and announce next steps in due course.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the financial implications for the NHS of ending prescription charges in England.

Edward Argar: Prescription charges contributed £614 million in revenue in 2020/21. This funding provides an important source of income in light of increasing demands on the National Health Service. However, approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and arrangements are in place to help those most in need.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of annually reviewing the prescription charge medical exemption list.

Edward Argar: We have made no specific assessment and there are currently no plans to review or extend the National Health Service prescription charge medical exemption list. For those ineligible for an exemption on medical grounds, arrangements are in place to assist with the affordability of prescriptions, including exemptions for which people with a long-term medical condition may already qualify. Approximately 89% of NHS prescription items are dispensed in the community free of charge.

Hospitals: Parking

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will permanently exempt NHS staff from hospital car parking charges.

Edward Argar: We have no plans to do so. Free parking in hospital car parks for all National Health Service staff was temporarily introduced for the duration of the pandemic and this measure ended from 31 March 2022.  However, free hospital car parking continues to be available for those in greatest need in 98% of NHS trusts which charge for car parking, including disabled people or blue badge holders; those attending frequent outpatient appointments; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working nightshifts.

Specific Learning Difficulties: Prescriptions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS-funded prescriptions for people who have received a diagnosis of a learning difficulty.

Edward Argar: Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and there are arrangements in place for those with the greatest need. Eligibility is dependent on the age of the patient, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, are pregnant or have recently given birth or are in receipt of specific benefits or a war pension. Those with a learning difficulty or learning disability may meet these eligibility criteria for prescription charge exemptions and receive free prescriptions.

Health Professions: Gifts and Endowments

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to implement a system, similar to the Sunshine Style Payment Act in the US, to ensure the medical industry declare payments given to (a) doctors, (b) researchers and (c) teaching hospitals.

Edward Argar: The Health and Care Act 2022 contains provisions to make regulations to require businesses to publish or report details of payments made or other benefits given to health care providers.

Chronic Illnesses: Medical Treatments

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of enabling access to multiple innovative advanced therapies on (a) the ability of people with long-term health conditions to self-manage their condition and (b) NHS capacity.

Edward Argar: No specific assessment has been made. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service. When making recommendations on the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs, including those for long-term conditions, NICE considers factors such as the extent to which patients would be able to self-manage their condition in estimating impacts on quality of life. NICE also assesses the resource impact associated with technologies and guidelines, which includes capacity and demand, changes to patient flows and workforce and training implications.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Rob Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 19015 on Medical Treatments: Innovation, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that research and data collected by the (a) Innovative Medicines Fund and (b) Cancer Drugs Fund will be shared with NHS bodies in the devolved legislatures.

Edward Argar: There are existing mechanisms in place where the outcomes of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) and the Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) are available to the devolved administrations. Medicines funded through the CDF and subsequently from the IMF are re-appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to determine whether the products can be routinely funded by the National Health Service, including with evidence generated through the CDF and IMF. NICE publishes the papers considered by its appraisal committees online, including the outcomes from data collected through the CDF and IMF on outstanding clinical uncertainties.

Electronic Cigarettes: Advertising

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits for people who smoke of allowing major supermarkets to advertise to smokers (a) e-cigarettes and (b) heat-not-burn products.

Maggie Throup: ‘The Khan review: making smoking obsolete’ published on 9 June made recommendations to support the Government’s ambition for England to be smoke free by 2030. These recommendations include measures to support smokers switching to e-cigarettes, such as through changing advertising and marketing regulations. The Department is considering these recommendations and we will respond in the forthcoming white paper on health disparities and in the Tobacco Control Plan, which will be published later this year.

Genito-urinary Medicine: Health Professions

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2022 to Question 13073, what steps his Department is taking to involve (a) local commissioners. (b) Directors of Public Health and (c) sexual health medical bodies on the workforce needs analysis.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2022 to Question 13073, whether the needs analysis will factor in increasing complexity and other epidemiological trends in infection including monkeypox and antibiotic resistance.

Maggie Throup: We continue to engage regularly with stakeholders in the development of the needs analysis, including local commissioners through the English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners’ Group, Directors of Public Health and professional organisations. We will consider the impact of new challenges, including increasing complexity and epidemiological trends in sexually transmitted infections, antimicrobial resistance and monkeypox and the adaptability of the specialist medical workforce to respond to these challenges. The needs analysis will inform the forthcoming Sexual and Reproductive Health action plan, which will be published later this year.

Coronavirus: Medical Treatments and Vaccination

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to transition covid-19 treatments into routine healthcare provision, including placing covid-19 vaccinations into the National Immunisation Programme and the provision of antiviral treatments for recommended groups.

Maggie Throup: The Department is working with the National Health Service and other partners to transition COVID-19 treatments such as antivirals, therapeutics, and vaccinations into routine healthcare provision. We aim to learn from the pandemic response to design a model which minimises the impact on other health and care services in times of greatest demand.We await the results of the PANORAMIC study to determine how those who would benefit most from COVID-19 antivirals can continue to access treatments through the NHS, including the delivery of vaccinations.

Monkeypox: Genito-urinary Medicine

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to provide financial support to local authority-commissioned sexual health services in response to the recent increase in cases of monkeypox.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency is supporting local authorities and system partners in containing the monkeypox outbreak, including the identification and management of infected cases. We are providing more than £3.4 billion to local authorities through the Public Health Grant, to invest in essential frontline services, including sexual health services.

Coronavirus: Schools

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 6 January 2022 to Question 94344 on Schools: Coronavirus, whether the trial of ventilation technologies taking place in primary classrooms in Bradford has concluded; between which dates the trial was actively collecting data; when he expects to publish the results of that trial; how he plans to disseminate the results of that trial; what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on that trial; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: The Rapid Covid-19 Air Disinfection Study (RCADS) is due to report in October 2022. The trial commenced data collection in September 2021 and is ongoing. The results will be published in due course following the end the of the trial and disseminated through peer reviewed journals, presentations at conferences for members of the scientific community, school leaders and teachers and across the Government. Delivery of the study is overseen by the RCADS Working Group, which includes officials from Department for Education.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require (a) early intervention and (b) preventative measures to help tackle children and young people's mental health and wellbeing; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: There are no current plans to bring forward specific legislative proposals. The Government has launched a public call for evidence to support the development of a new cross-Government 10 year plan for mental health, including supporting children and young people’s mental health. The call for evidence is open until 7 July 2022 and is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/mental-health-and-wellbeing-plan-discussion-paper-and-call-for-evidence

Eating Disorders: Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the (a) adult and (b) under 18 population of England suffering from an eating disorder; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: The ‘2019 Health Survey for England’ indicated that 16% of adults aged 16 years old and over in England received a positive screen for a possible eating disorder or reported that their feelings about food had a significant negative impact on their life.Data is not held for all those aged under 18 years old. However, for children and young people aged 11 to 16 years old, the ‘Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2021 - wave 2 follow up to the 2017 survey’ found that 13% screened positive for possible eating problems. For those aged 17 to 19 years old, 58.2% screened positive. However, a positive screening result does not confirm that the child or young person had an eating disorder but indicated an increased likelihood of problems with eating.

General Practitioners: ICT

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will develop a system to enable proxy access for patients via the NHS App between the EMIS and TPP systems used by GP surgeries.

Gillian Keegan: The NHS App currently allows a version of proxy access from general practitioner clinical systems such as EMIS and TPP, known as ‘linked profiles’. However, the capability is not currently available between suppliers. We are working with the Information Commissioner’s Office to understand how people can access health and care services on behalf of those they care for.

Tourette's Syndrome: North West

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of (a) CCGs in the North West of England, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Improvement on proposals for a local tertiary service for Tourette’s syndrome; and if he will provide an update on the status of those plans.

Gillian Keegan: There have been no recent discussions. The majority of services for people with Tourette’s syndrome are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The development of the proposed clinical model for a local tertiary service for Tourette’s syndrome in the North West of England is continuing between Alder Hey Hospital and the nine CCGs in Cheshire and Merseyside. Clinical leadership support from NHS England has also been secured. The new Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board, which will replace the nine CCGs from 1 July 2022, will determine whether this service is commissioned, depending on factors such as the availability of financials resources.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure additional mental health provision for young people during the upcoming school summer holidays.

Gillian Keegan: While we have no specific plans to do so, we are increasing funding for mental health services by an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24, which will allow at least 345,000 additional children and young people to access to National Health Service-funded mental health support. In 2021/22, we provided a further £79 million in response to the pandemic and expand children’s mental health services. This has accelerated the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges, with 287 teams in place in approximately 4,700 schools and colleges. Where established in schools and colleges, mental health support teams are expected to be available at all times of the year. The online Every Mind Matters campaign also raises awareness of the guidance and tools available to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing and ensure that those who need urgent support are directed towards the appropriate services.

Skin Diseases: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the most common skin condition affecting people under the age of 21 that was treated on the NHS in the last 12 months.

Gillian Keegan: The information requested is not collected centrally. Skin conditions are predominantly treated in a primary care setting, for which data is not collected. While the most severe cases or those requiring inpatient procedures would require treatment in a secondary care setting, NHS Digital provisionally estimates that in 2021/2022, pilonidal cysts were the most common skin condition requiring hospital admission in people under the age of 21 years old.

Learning Disability: Autism

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish its response to the Health and Social Care Committee's report entitled The treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities, published on 13 July 2021.

Gillian Keegan: We intend to respond to the Health and Social Care Committee following the publication of the Building the right support action plan.

NHS: Car Allowances

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the mileage allowance for NHS staff in the context of rising fuel costs.

Edward Argar: The reimbursement of travel costs is addressed in the NHS Terms and Conditions, agreed by employers and the National Health Service trades unions. The current rate for staff who use their vehicles to make journeys in the performance of their duties is 56 pence per mile, which is above the HM Revenue and Customs approved mileage rate of 45 pence per mile. This rate reduces after 3,500 miles to 20 pence per mile. The NHS Terms and Conditions sets out the process for reviewing the rate of reimbursement every six months, which includes reviewing fluctuations in fuel prices. The NHS Staff Council recently issued a statement to facilitate local discussions on temporary options, which is available at the following link: https://www.nhsemployers.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/009%20NHS%20SC%20-%20Joint%20statement%20on%20reimbursement%20of%20travel%20costs%20in%20England%20MAY%202022.pdf This includes a commitment for the NHS Staff Council to write to the Department to seek a remit and determine the scope for a possible review.

NHS: Pay

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will match NHS staff pay awards for 2022 with the rate of inflation.

Edward Argar: The Government has committed to increasing National Health Service workers’ pay this year, in addition to 3% last year, when pay was frozen in the public sector.The Government is looking to the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) for a pay recommendation for the NHS. The PRBs consist of industry experts and make recommendations based on an assessment of evidence from a range of stakeholders, including NHS system partners, trades unions and the Government. The PRBs consider a range of factors including the cost of living and inflation, recruitment and retention, affordability, and value for the taxpayer. The Government will consider these recommendations before responding.

Legionnaires Disease: Hospitals

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Legionnaires Disease (a) cases and (b) deaths in hospitals there have been since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic; what steps hospitals have taken to protect people with that condition from additional harm during the pandemic; and whether this will be investigated as part of the covid-19 Inquiry.

Maggie Throup: The data is not available in the format requested. The COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidance aimed to support healthcare organisations to maintain the safety of patients and staff. Organisations continue to be responsible for managing the risks associated with infectious agents, such as legionnaires, by completing risk assessments approved through local governance procedures. The recommended terms of reference for the COVID-19 Inquiry include examining the management of the pandemic in hospitals, including infection prevention and control and the consequences of the pandemic on provision for non-COVID-19 related conditions and needs. The Government will consider these recommendations and publish the Inquiry's final terms of reference in due course.

Learning Disability: Health Services

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timeline is for publishing the cross-Government action plan on implementing the Building the right support national plan.

Gillian Keegan: We will publish the Building the right support action plan as soon as possible. A publication date has not yet been confirmed.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the additional payments towards the cost of living announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 26 May 2022, whether those payments are treated as income for the purposes of social care charges under the Care Act 2014.

Gillian Keegan: The Department is currently determining the impact of the new cost of living payments on financial assessments for care costs. As this support is constituted through one-off payments, we do not expect this to be considered as regular income for the purposes of social care costs under the Care Act 2014.

Urinary Tract Infections

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the key aims are of NHS England’s AMR Programme UTI delivery group; and what timelines are in place for the publication of the findings of that group.

Maggie Throup: NHS England and NHS Improvement’s urinary tract infection (UTI) reduction workstream was established as part of delivery of the ‘UK 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024’. This workstream aims to enhance prevention, support early and accurate diagnosis and improve the treatment of UTIs through identifying and adopting best practice and interventions for different populations in healthcare settings, including at home and in care homes.The workstream does not plan to produce specific findings, as it reports its ongoing work through NHS England and NHS Improvement’s national antimicrobial resistance programme board on a quarterly basis. Progress against all workstreams under the current action plan will be developed in the next five-year plan, which is due to be published in 2024.

Nitrogen Dioxide: Health Hazards

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of nitrogen dioxide levels on people's health.

Maggie Throup: In 2018, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants assessed the mortality burden of long-term exposure to air pollution in the United Kingdom, based on studies reporting associations of mortality risk with fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. It was estimated that for a one microgram per cubic metre reduction in nitrogen dioxide, approximately 420,000 to 903,000 life years could be saved in the UK in the next 106 years, which is associated with an increase in life expectancy at birth of approximately two to five days.The UK Health Security Agency published a tool to estimate the potential health burden and costs to the National Health Service and social care system arising due to air pollution. In England, an estimated 1,140,018 new cases of disease attributable to nitrogen dioxide is predicted by 2035, equivalent to 1,933 new cases of disease per 100,000 population between 2017 and 2035.

Air Pollution: Health Hazards

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of air pollution on children’s health.

Maggie Throup: In 2021, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a review which acknowledged children's vulnerability to the health impacts of air pollution, assessed children's exposure in outdoor school environments and the relation to socio-economic inequalities and recommended mitigating actions. The UKHSA also reviewed the exposure to indoor solid fuel and respiratory health in children. While children exposed to indoor wood burning are not at an increased risk of asthma in developed countries, there is a slight increased risk of developing respiratory infections. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants is preparing a report which considers the evidence linking pre-term birth, low birth weight and stillbirth with maternal exposure to air pollution including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, during pregnancy. The Committee aims to publish this report in August 2022.

Lyme Disease: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease in the UK in each of the last three years.

Maggie Throup: The data is not available in the format requested. The UK Health Security Agency’s Emerging Infections and Zoonoses team has a remit to publish zoonoses surveillance data for England and Wales, including diagnoses of Lyme disease. The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported in England and Wales was 1,639 in 2019, 1,262 in 2020 and 1,156 in 2021.

Evusheld

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when Evusheld will be available for eligible patients.

Maggie Throup: Evusheld was granted a conditional marketing authorisation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on 17 March 2022. However, the initial positive trial data for Evusheld was published prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant.The UK Health Security Agency has conducted the efficacy of Evusheld against the Omicron variants and initial data for BA.1 and BA.2 has been shared with AstraZeneca. The Department and the National Health Service are identifying the appropriate patient cohorts and approaches to the potential deployment of pre-exposure prophylaxis. We have asked clinicians to advise on the most appropriate option for the NHS in line with the available data, the public health situation and other treatments available. We are therefore unable to confirm an estimated date for the availability of Evusheld.

Nutrition: Low Incomes

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of rising food prices on the capacity of low-income families to fulfil their dietary needs.

Maggie Throup: No specific assessment has been made. However, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will explore options to assess the cost of a healthy diet, with a focus on families.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to offer a second booster vaccination to all adults, in the context of rising hospitalisations from covid-19.

Maggie Throup: On 21 February 2022, the Government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer an additional spring booster dose to all residents in care homes for older adults, individuals aged 12 years old and over who are immunosuppressed, and all adults aged 75 years old and over.On 19 May 2022, the JCVI published interim advice on an autumn COVID-19 booster programme which states that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered to residents in a care home for older adults and staff; frontline health and social care workers; all those aged 65 years old and over; and adults aged 16 to 64 years old in a clinical risk group. The JCVI is considering the vaccination of other patient groups and the detail of the definitions of clinical risk groups. The JCVI keeps the current epidemiological data under review and will issue further advice if necessary.

Leader of the House

Leader of the House of Commons: Consultants

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Leader of the House, how much his Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Mark Spencer: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. member to the response from the Cabinet Office (22549).

Department for Education

Schools: Platinum Jubilee 2022

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2022 to Question 18885 on Schools: Platinum Jubilee 2022, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on applying the lessons learned from the roll out of covid-19 vaccinations to the distribution of the Platinum Jubilee book to schools.

Mr Robin Walker: The department is working hard to distribute ‘Queen Elizabeth: A Platinum Jubilee Celebration’ to schools as quickly as possible. The distribution of the books is being managed by DK, as per their contract with the department. The majority of deliveries to schools in England have now been completed with 3,053,000 copies delivered as of 24 June 2022, including all books delivered to schools in Northern Ireland. The delivery process is on course to be completed by 11 July 2022 at the latest.As we are nearing the final stages of the delivery process, a discussion with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is not needed.

Pupils: Refugees

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when will schools who offer places to Ukrainian refugees receive additional per pupil funding for those children.

Mr Robin Walker: For children who have arrived via the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the department has advised local authorities that funding will be on a per pupil basis for the three phases of education. This bespoke scheme enables individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to volunteer accommodation and provide a route to safety for people fleeing from Ukraine.Eligible local authorities will receive full tariff amount for each child from Ukraine who has arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme up to and including 31 May 2022. This payment will be made in July 2022. Further funding allocations for children that arrive in a local authority from June 2022 onwards will be made at a later date.

Primary Education: Teachers

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his latest estimate is of the number of primary schools that have a dedicated teacher for (a) music, (b) arts, (c) drama and (d) PE.

Mr Robin Walker: The department does not collect primary school curriculum data in the annual school workforce census. The school workforce census collects information on teaching in a sample of secondary schools and this information is published in our national statistics, the latest of which refers to the November 2021 census and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.Music, arts, drama, and physical education (PE) are vital aspects of primary school. The department supports this via the curriculum first and foremost, where music, arts, drama, and PE are part of the national curriculum, but we also want pupils to have the opportunity to engage in enrichment and physical activity, including sport. These are important for academic progress, for health and wellbeing, and for increasing life chances and future opportunities.On 25 June 2022, the government published its refreshed national plan for music education, setting clear expectations for schools and announcing £25 million of new capital funding for musical instruments and equipment and £79 million per year until 2025 for the music hubs programme. The government also announced opportunities for pupils to stay active, continuing the £320 million PE and sport premium, as well as the School Games programme for the 2022/23 academic year. The update to the School Sport and Activity Action Plan will be published shortly and, in 2023, the government will be publishing a cultural education plan.

National Tutoring Programme: Publicity

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the outbound call campaign relating to the National Tutoring Programme which was launched by his Department on 28 April 2022.

Mr Robin Walker: The department’s calls to schools are part of the wider campaign to improve awareness and increase school engagement with the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), allowing more pupils to benefit from personalised catch-up support.The costs are covered by the existing funding envelope. The department staff resource for the NTP call campaign was seven existing full time equivalent employees. Additional support was provided by up to ten agency staff already engaged by the department to deliver another campaign.

Adoption

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support adoptive parents with the educational needs of their child.

Will Quince: Local authorities have a statutory duty to promote the achievement of previously looked-after children, including those who have left care through adoption. They must appoint an officer, the Virtual School Head, who discharges this duty through the provision of expert advice and information to those with parental responsibility, designated teachers and educators.Previously looked-after children have priority access in school admissions, alongside looked-after children, and schools are required to appoint a designated teacher to promote their achievement. These pupils attract pupil premium plus funding of £2,410 per annum, which is managed by the school. Statutory guidance on the role of the designated teacher sets a clear expectation for schools to involve parents and guardians in deciding how best the funding is used to support their child.

Children: Day Care

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) nurseries and (b) childcare settings have closed in each region of England in each year since 2018.

Will Quince: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Primary Education: Physical Education and Sports

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when primary schools will be informed of the (a) outcome of their application to and (b) funding allocation from the PE and Sport Premium Fund.

Will Quince: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced on 25 June that the £320 million PE and sport premium will continue for the 2022/23 academic year.The PE and sport premium is paid to all eligible schools and there is no application process. Funding allocations for individual schools will be published in September.

Ministry of Justice

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of community payback is yet to be delivered in each (a) region of (i) England and (ii) Wales and (b) probation service area due to a lack of supervisors in the Probation Service.

Kit Malthouse: The data requested is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as recording processes do not identify a specific reason for hours being outstanding.

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many community payback projects have been nominated by members of the public in every region of England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the types of Community Payback projects nominated by members of the public in each of the last five years.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of community payback projects nominated by members of the public have been completed in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: Community Payback sees offenders make reparation for their crimes in a constructive and demanding way. Community Payback should be a visible punishment, with offenders undertaking work that benefits the communities they have harmed. Local engagement is an integral part of Community Payback, and we encourage members of the public to nominate projects via the Gov.uk website. The public can provide a unique insight into the needs of their local area and therefore the merit of public nominations is that projects are responsive to those priorities. The nominations we receive are then assessed by local Community Payback teams for suitability to ensure that the proposal benefits the local community, does not directly replace paid employment, and does not contravene state aid or competitive advantage regulations. Suitable projects may include removing graffiti from a public building, clearing wasteland, or decorating a community centre. Prior to unification of the Probation Service in June 2021, Community Payback was delivered by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) who had their own processes for capturing public nominations. CRC contracts did not require them to report on these processes. However, under CRCs the public could also nominate projects via the Gov.uk website and we do retain this data, dating back to September 2019. There is no data prior to 2019. Table 1 presents nominations received via the Gov.uk website for each CRC between September 2019 and June 2021.Table 103/09/2019-> 30/06/21Northumbria4Cumbria and Lancashire25Durham Tees valley5Humber Lincoln and North Yorkshire11West Yorkshire9Cheshire Greater Manchester22Merseyside4South Yorkshire8Staffordshire and West Midlands & Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Rutland34 Wales10Warwickshire West Mercia7Bristol, Gloucester, Somerset and Wiltshire13Devon Dorset and Cornwall12Hampshire and Isle of Wight7Thames Valley12London31Bedfordshire, Northampton, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire10Essex10Norfolk and Suffolk12Kent Surrey and Sussex53  Following unification in June 2021, the Probation Service assumed responsibility for all public nominations. Table 2 presents nominations received by each Probation region via Gov.uk from unification until 21 June 2022.  Table 201/07/21 - 21/06/22East Midlands23East of England42Greater Manchester17Kent, Surrey and Sussex29London24North East12North West61South Central26South West35Wales28West Midlands39Yorkshire & Humberside72   We are unable to provide data on how many projects nominated by members of the public have been completed in each of the last five years as CRCs were not required to collect this data. However, we are working to improve our data collection post-unification as part of wider reforms to Community Payback.

Coroners

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking to steps to (a) minimise costs faced by claimants during an inquest when admissions of liability result in reasonable costs no longer being duty of the defendant and (b) allow bereaved families to further establish in law the principle of equality of arms between families and public bodies.

James Cartlidge: The Government is committed to ensuring that bereaved families are properly supported and are able to participate in the inquest process. An inquest is intended to be an inquisitorial, fact-finding event, and in the vast majority of cases, representation is not necessary. There is no question of liability nor defendants, only interested persons, and witnesses are not expected to present legal arguments. In certain circumstances, legal representation for bereaved families at inquests may be funded through the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme. We believe that the process to access this support should be as straightforward as possible, which is why we removed the means test for ECF in relation to these matters. Whilst we acknowledge the call for the provision for legal representation for all bereaved families at inquests to ensure “equality of arms” between families and public bodies, we believe that additional lawyers at an inquest will not provide an overall improvement for the bereaved or change the outcome of the conclusion of an inquest. The refreshed Ministry of Justice Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People is better focused on the needs of bereaved people and is designed to support bereaved families and keep them at the heart of the inquest process. The Guide includes number of key principles that government departments and the lawyers it instructs will follow. These include the need to consider the number of lawyers instructed, bearing in mind the commitment to support an inquisitorial approach.

International Criminal Court

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to support the International Criminal Court.

James Cartlidge: In March, the UK led efforts to expedite an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the situation in Ukraine through the largest state party referral in the history of the ICC, which is now backed by 42 allies.To support the ICC investigation, the UK is providing a comprehensive package of assistance which includes a financial contribution of £1 million from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (in addition to the UK’s annual contribution), and technical expertise from UK military, police and legal experts.We are now working with our international partners to ensure that the ICC has all it needs to progress the investigation rapidly to see those responsible prosecuted and held accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Roads: Accidents

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 26 May 2022 to Question 5346 on Roads: Accidents, if he will publish further details on the schemes available to provide compensation and support to victims and families of road crash fatalities.

Tom Pursglove: The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 provides for an award of bereavement damages to certain family members which could be applied for in relation to road traffic accident fatalities. The size of the award is set by legislation and is currently £15,120.Victims and bereaved families may be eligible to apply to the Government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme (the Scheme), which exists to compensate for serious physical or mental injury attributable to being a direct victim of a crime of violence. Bereavement and other payments are also available to qualifying relatives in fatal cases. As the Scheme is publicly funded, strict eligibility criteria apply. For the purposes of eligibility, an incident involving a vehicle will amount to a crime of violence only where the vehicle was used with intent to cause injury to a person.

Ministry of Justice: Consultants

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to PQ 11689 on 8 June 2022 and PQ 18922 on 20 June 2022.

Prison Sentences

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of prison sentences given to offenders; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of longer sentences for offenders.

James Cartlidge: The government’s top priority is protecting the public; it is essential that we have a sentencing framework that delivers this and ensures victims and the wider public have confidence that the punishment fits the crime in every case.In 2020, the Government published a Sentencing White Paper and consequently delivered measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. Measures include ending automatic halfway release from prison for serious crimes, making a Whole Life Order the starting point for a premeditated murder of a child and a new power to refer high-risk offenders to Parole Board in place of automatic release.While prisons keep people safe by taking dangerous criminals off our streets, we recognise that they can only bring down crime and keep the public safer in the longer-term if they properly reform and rehabilitate offenders. We therefore published the Prisons Strategy White Paper in December 2021 where we re-iterated our commitment to help individual turn their backs on crime and we will spend £200 million a year by 2024-25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment.

Expert Evidence: Health Professions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help ensure that evidence provided to (a) Government and (b) legal proceedings from medical witnesses is of a high standard.

James Cartlidge: There is currently dedicated legislation, that is underpinned by detailed guidance and protocols for each jurisdiction in the courts, to govern the admissibility of expert medical evidence. These procedures include opportunities for any unreliable evidence to be challenged and, if necessary, be excluded by the court.

Criminal Liability

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Law Commission’s discussion paper, entitled Criminal Liability: Insanity and Automatism, published on 23 July 2013, if his Department will conduct a review into the use of automatism as a legal defence.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 17873 on Criminal Liability, for what reasons his Department has no plans to bring forward reform to the use of automatism as a legal defence.

James Cartlidge: The government is grateful to the Law Commission for their discussion paper on “Criminal Liability: Insanity and Automatism” published in 2013. The government has noted their proposals and has no immediate plans to conduct a further review as the defence of automatism is used so rarely, however, we have not ruled out the possibility of reform in the future. We keep the law in this area under appraisal alongside related law on insanity and unfitness to plead.

Youth Custody

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether males and females are detained together in the youth estate.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any young people under the age of 15 are being considered for transfer to youth facilities reserved for young people aged 15 to 18.

Victoria Atkins: All children and young people are placed within the Youth Secure Estate in the most appropriate, available accommodation that meets their needs. Each placement is subject to an individual risk assessment and is decided upon in line with the Youth Custody Service (YCS) Placement Guidance. Boys and girls aged between 12 and 18 years old are placed together at some establishments within the Youth Secure Estate.   Legally, there are no places exclusively reserved for 15- to 18-year-olds. However, the YCS Placements Guidance Policy guides the YCS Placements Team to generally only place children who are aged 15 years old or above into the Young Offenders Institution (YOI) sector. However, children aged under 15 could legally be placed into the YOI sector although this exceptional circumstance would have to be approved by senior officials.

Treasury

Electricity Generation: Taxation

Graham Stuart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a windfall tax on investment plans of electricity generators.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to make a decision on whether to impose a windfall tax on electricity generators.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of a windfall tax on electricity generators on the cost of future renewable energy projects.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of electricity generators on a potential windfall tax on the sector.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the temporary windfall tax on future investment plans of electricity generation companies.

Lucy Frazer: Within the Economy Update on 26th May, the Chancellor announced the Government is urgently evaluating the scale of extraordinary profits in the energy generation sector and the appropriate next steps. As part of this process, officials are currently engaging with industry stakeholders, to gather evidence on energy generator’s level of profitability and the operation of their business models. The PM’s ten-point plan and recent energy security strategy has set the UK on a pathway to a significant movement away from gas generation and towards renewables and low-carbon technologies. The Government recognises that any measures, tax or otherwise, need to be proportionate and avoid creating undue distortion or impacts on UK investment.

Taxation

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at what point on the tax and income scale does a person become a net contributor to the Exchequer (a) by income and (b) by tax paid in the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: At Spring Statement 2022, the Government published analysis which illustrates the overall impact of tax, welfare and public services spending for households across the income distribution. This analysis shows that in the year 2024-25 the poorest 60% of households will receive more in welfare and public spending than they contribute in tax. Using ONS data from 2019-20, available at Effects of taxes and benefits on household income - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk), which only considers tax and welfare, the poorest 50% of households are estimated to receive more in welfare than they contribute in tax.

National Insurance: Children in Care

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to ensure that children in care receive National Insurance numbers at the same time as children living with their biological parents; and if she will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: It is HMRC policy to issue National Insurance numbers to all children where HMRC hold current personal details. For some children who are in care, a special process exists for social workers to confirm the details so that the young person can receive their National Insurance number on time.

Taxation: Rebates

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to prevent tax rebate companies from taking a proportion of money owed to a person in a tax rebate.

Lucy Frazer: Individuals can claim tax repayments directly from HMRC, which has introduced new digital services to make this easier. If they claim directly, as many individuals do, they get to keep the full amount of the payment they are due. Around 500,000 individuals use third-party repayment agents annually to claim tax refunds. Many individuals value this service, understand and accept the fee structure, and are repeat users. The government recognises this and does not want to prevent individuals who want to use repayment agents from doing so. However, the government recognises concerns that some individuals are being charged excessive fees, and that the terms and conditions under which services are provided have not been made clear. The government launched a consultation “Raising standards in tax advice: protecting customers claiming tax repayments” on 22 June 2022, which proposes measures to protect the public from unscrupulous repayment agent practises. This consultation will close on 14 September 2022. This forms part of the government’s agenda to raise standards in the market for tax advice.

Import Duties: China

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that goods imported from China pay appropriate import duties.

Lucy Frazer: As the customs authority, HMRC works alongside Border Force to ensure that border processes are as smooth as possible, whilst targeting cross-border threats. HMRC uses a risk based and intelligence-led response focusing compliance interventions on tackling the goods and traders that represent highest risks to revenue, the UK economy and wider society, and our international reputation. HMRC has provided support on GOV.UK to help importers understand the import procedures they need to follow and the duty they need to pay (including on goods from China).

UK Trade with EU: Import Duties

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure UK businesses exporting to the EU are not paying high import duties and taxes on their goods.

Lucy Frazer: Under the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), both the UK and the EU agreed to remove tariffs in relation to the goods originating in the UK/EU. This means that goods exported to the EU from GB that meet the preferential rules of origin in the TCA do not incur customs duty. HMG has and continues to provide extensive support to GB business.

Debts: Advisory Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ask HMRC to examine individual cases where there is a dispute as to whether a service is provided by a managed service provider.

Lucy Frazer: The Managed Service Companies (MSC) legislation, introduced in 2007, prevents the large-scale promotion of structures where workers work through companies that serve no commercial purpose beyond trying to achieve a tax saving. The MSC rules require there to be an MSC provider, who is the promoter of these arrangements. It is not the case, however, that all clients of an MSC provider will necessarily be an MSC. HMRC guidance in the Employment Status Manual at ESM3510 sets out the criteria. If a person disagrees with a tax decision made by HMRC, they have the right to appeal, request a review, or notify the appeal to the tax tribunal. HMRC, will seek, wherever possible, to handle disputes by working collaboratively with customers. In any dispute, HMRC will seek to establish and understand the relevant evidence and facts as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Fraud

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of financial institutions in signing up to the contingent reimbursement model code to protect consumers from authorised push payment fraud.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his officials have had with financial institutions about signing up to the Contingent Reimbursement Model code.

John Glen: The Government recognises the actions of the financial services industry to help tackle APP fraud, including the creation of the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code. The Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) is a voluntary code which sets out reimbursement standards for signatory Payment Service Providers (PSPs). With nine of the UK’s largest banks signatory to the Code, the CRM has had some beneficial impacts since its introduction in May 2019. However, while improving matters, the Code comes with limitations, including disparity in how different payment service providers are interpreting their obligations under it, as well as its lack of comprehensive cover across providers. The Government therefore welcomed the PSR’s recent consultation on APP scams, which set out various potential measures that could improve scam prevention and outcomes, including proposals to introduce mandatory requirements to reimburse victims. The Government has confirmed it intends to legislate to address any barriers regarding regulatory action on mandatory reimbursement when parliamentary time allows, as part of the Financial Services & Markets Bill. Treasury Officials also undertake regular engagement with financial services firms, the Lending Standards Board (who oversee the CRM Code) and other stakeholders, to understand what further action can be taken to protect consumers from APP fraud.

Bureaux de Change: Fees and Charges

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) consumers and (b) SMEs of high unadvertised exchange fees charged by some foreign exchange services.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to review the adequacy of the transparency of exchange fees charged to UK consumers by foreign exchange services.

John Glen: The Government recognises the importance of transparency of fees and charges in ensuring effective competition between payment service providers. Where currency conversion is provided as part of a payment transaction, the Payment Services Regulations 2017 make requirements on UK payment service providers regarding disclosure of fees and charges to the payer, for example, the exchange rate used for a currency conversion transaction. Provisions under the Cross Border Payments Regulation, which continue to apply in the UK as part of retained EU law, also contribute to price transparency, with further requirements regarding how foreign exchange costs must be communicated before a payment is made. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the relevant regulatory authority with responsibility for monitoring and enforcing these requirements, and should the FCA have concerns regarding firms’ compliance with the requirements on fee advertisement, it will take appropriate action as necessary These regulations, among other things, are intended to enable payment service users such as consumers and SMEs to make informed decisions when making use of payment services, including where currency conversion is offered as part of a payment transaction. The Government has no plans at this time to amend the requirements on firms, but keeps all policy under review.

Financial Services Ombudsman: Standards

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Services Ombudsman about reducing waiting times in both allocating and investigating cases.

John Glen: The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an independent non-governmental body. The Treasury is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the FOS and the remit of the FOS is set out by the Financial Conduct Authority. The rules on how the FOS should handle complaints state that ‘The ombudsman will attempt to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage. Inevitably some cases will be more complex than others and therefore take more time to resolve, however the FOS should deal with all cases in a timely manner. Nevertheless, the Government agrees that it is vitally important that the FOS should be accountable for its performance and the quality of its work. The FOS answers to a board of directors, appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority, and must make a report each year on the discharge of its functions which is required to be laid before Parliament. This ensures Parliament is able to scrutinise the efficiency, effectiveness and economy with which the FOS carries out its functions. There are also regular meetings between Treasury officials and the FOS where relevant emerging issues are discussed.

Bank Services: Domestic Abuse

John McNally: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to ensure that victims of financial abuse are not (a) disallowed from mortgages, (b) given poor credit ratings and (c) negatively impacted in other ways by the finance industry.

John Glen: The Government is strongly committed to tackle financial exclusion and discrimination and aims for everyone, whatever their background or income, to be able to access useful and affordable financial products and services. The Government works closely together with regulators, the financial services industry and other stakeholders, to ensure that all consumers of financial services are appropriately protected. Industry-agreed principles, rather than government policy, determine what and how information is shared between organisations and Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs). CRAs then hold this information on individuals’ credit files and use it to create a credit score. Consumers can add a Notice (of up to 200 words) to their credit file explaining any circumstances, such as being a victim of financial abuse, that may impact decisions made about their applications for credit, including mortgages. Lenders should take the content of this Notice into account alongside the other information on the credit file. In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is currently undertaking a Credit Information Market Study which is assessing how the sector is working now and how it may develop in the future. The FCA will publish an interim report in summer 2022. The FCA is also currently developing a new Consumer Duty, which would require firms to place more emphasis on the needs of all customers, including those who are vulnerable or at risk of being financially excluded. The FCA is required to publish its final rules before the end of July. Prior to this, in February 2021, the FCA also published its finalised guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, setting out a number of best practices (https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/guidance-firms-fair-treatment-vulnerable-customers). This applies to all firms where the FCA Principles for Business apply, regardless of sector and in respect of the supply of products or services to retail customers.

Money: Older People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential effect of a cashless society on the elderly.

John Glen: The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or elderly. The government remains closely engaged with the financial regulators, including through the Treasury-chaired Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, to monitor trends relating to the use of cash by people and businesses. In the Queen’s Speech in May 2022 the government announced that it will introduce legislation to protect access to cash as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The government intends to establish the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility to ensure that people can continue to access cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. Through this legislation the government intends to ensure that people can continue to use cash in their day-to-day lives. The Bill will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows.

Financial Conduct Authority: Vacancies

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of levels of unfilled vacancies at the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulator's ability to fulfil its statutory objectives.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Financial Conduct Authority has spent in the last 12 months on legal fees and advice relating to its dispute with Unite on recognising a trade union.

John Glen: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is operationally independent from the Government. Questions about the FCA’s day to day decision making, including details about staffing, budget and spending are matters for the independent FCA. These questions have therefore been passed to the FCA who will respond directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £1.5 billion in announced by the Treasury for compensating Equitable Life policyholders has not been spent as of 24 June 2022.

John Glen: At 31 May 2022, the total value of payments made by the Equitable Life Payment Scheme was £1,305,099,430.44

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Maladministration

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his department requested the publication of Towers Waston's calculations of the relative losses of Equitable Life policyholders affected by maladministration.

John Glen: The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-design.

Safe Hands Plans: Insolvency

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to support people who bought funeral plans from Safe Hands Plans in the context of the closure of that business; and if he will undertake a review of the reasons for the closure of Safe Hands Plans.

John Glen: In January 2021, the government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This will ensure that, for the first time, consumers are protected by compulsory and robust regulation. Safe Hands Plans went into administration in March 2022. The government understands that this will be concerning for customers of Safe Hands and continues to monitor the implementation of regulation in this sector closely. Dignity’s recent commitment to provide ongoing support to Safe Hands’ customers until November 2022 is welcome. This will ensure that any planholders who pass away during this time will receive a funeral without any additional charge. The administration process for Safe Hands is an ongoing legal process under the general control of court. This process may provide further information about what has happened at the firm, and the government awaits the outcome with interest.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Conor McGinn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the 5p per litre reduction in fuel duty announced on 23 March 2022, what assessment he has made of that policy’s (a) efficacy and (b) impact for consumers to date.

Helen Whately: At Spring Statement 2022 in response to fuel prices reaching record levels, the Government announced a temporary 12-month cut to duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre. This is the largest cash-terms cut across all fuel duty rates at once, ever, and is only the second time in 20 years that main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut. This cut represents savings for households and businesses worth around £2.4 billion in 2022-23. The Government has been clear that it expects those in the supply chain to pass the fuel duty cut through to consumers as promptly as possible. Following a request from the Business Secretary, the Competition and Markets Authority will undertake a short and focused review of the fuel market and will provide advice to the Government on steps that could be taken to improve outcomes for consumers. All taxes, including fuel duty, remain under review.

Treasury: Consultants

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Helen Whately: HM Treasury’s spend on consultancy is published and available for viewing within the Annual Report and Accounts. HMT is yet to lay its accounts for 2021-22, but these are due to be published prior to the summer recess. We have included the links to the published Annual Report and Accounts for each of the available years in question within the table below. Financial YearPublication LinkPage Reference2017-18https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724104/2017-18_Final_HMT_ARA__web_.pdfPage 842018-19https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-annual-report-and-accounts-2018-to-2019Page 882019-20https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-annual-report-and-accounts-2019-to-2020Page 1042020-21https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021Page 101

Railways: Strikes

Julian Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the economic impact of the RMT strikes on 21 June 2022.

Helen Whately: HM Treasury, as part of its normal activities, carefully monitors the UK economy, and any risks to it, and remains ready to respond to challenges.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Vladimir Kara-Murza

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support political prisoner Vladimir Karma-Murza in Russia in the context of the debate which took place at the Council of Europe in the week beginning 20 June 2022 entitled Reported cases of political prisoners in the Russian Federation.

Vicky Ford: The imprisonment of Vladimir Kara-Murza is the latest attempt by Russian authorities to shutdown opposition to their policies. On the 18 May diplomatic representatives from British Embassy Moscow, alongside international partners attended Mr Kara-Murza's appeal hearing. On 26 May, Minister Cleverly met with Mrs Evgenia Kara-Murza to discuss the detention of her husband. On 9 June, we raised his case in the Permanent Council of the OSCE. We continue to call for the Russian Federation to release Vladimir Kara-Murza, and recognise the vital work of the Council of Europe and PACE in this sphere. We note that recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course for appropriate review.

Russia: Political Prisoners

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the debate which took place at the Council of Europe in the week beginning 20 June 2022 entitled Reported cases of political prisoners in the Russian Federation.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government is committed to calling for the release of political prisoners in the Russian Federation, and we note the crucial work of the Council of Europe and PACE in this sphere. The UK is deeply concerned by Russian actions, targeting opposition politicians, civil society actors, religious groups, and LGBT people through prosecutions and repressive legislation towards so-called "undesirable" and "extremist" organisations and "foreign agents". We continue to call out Russia in international fora for these actions.

Transcaucasus: Human Rights

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the debate entitled The continuing need to restore human rights and the rule of law in the North Caucasus region which took place at the Council of Europe in the week beginning 20 June 2022.

Vicky Ford: The Government is committed to continuing to call for the restoration of human rights and rule of law in the North Caucasus region, and recognises the crucial work of the Council of Europe and in particular the PACE in this sphere. We regularly challenge Russia in international fora on their human rights abuses, including those perpetrated in the North Caucasus and encourage Russia to implement European Court of Human Rights judgments- a vital step to ending the climate of impunity in the region. We note that recommendations will go to the Committee of Ministers in due course for appropriate review.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on ensuring that climate adaptation finance is allocated to countries suffering from climate change and fragility.

Vicky Ford: The FCDO ministerial team is engaging counterparts across the world to ensure we deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact. We are urging all finance providers to meet the $100 billion a year goal as soon as possible, ensure this finance is accessible, including to those countries suffering most from the effects of climate change, and set out clear commitments by COP27 to collectively double adaptation finance from 2019 levels by 2025.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the funding her Department plans to allocate to International Climate Finance in line with the Paris Agreement will be (a) new and (b) in addition to ODA spending.

Vicky Ford: The UK succeeded in meeting its 2015 pledge to provide £5.8 billion in International Climate Finance (ICF) between 2016/17 and 2020/21. In 2019 the Prime Minister made a new commitment to delivering £11.6 billion for the period 2021/22 to 2025/26. This commitment is additional to the £5.8 billion spent up to March 2021.

Russia: Sanctions

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued for people who wish to ascertain whether their services or products breach economic sanctions on Russia.

James Cleverly: The Government updated guidance on sanctions relating to Russia on 24 June, which can be found on gov.uk. The guidance details all changes made since the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 came fully into force on 31 December 2020.The situation in Ukraine and Russia will continue to change. This may involve further sanctions which could affect UK business. Businesses should continue to check the guidance on our gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-sanctions-on-russia to ensure their business activities are compliant with the current sanctions against Russia. We recommend businesses consider taking legal advice after reviewing the legislation & guidance.

Taiwan: Diplomatic Relations

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve UK diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Amanda Milling: The UK has a clear interest in enduring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and the G7 Leaders' Communiqué this month underscored this with our international partners. As the Foreign Secretary said in her Mansion House speech, we must ensure that democracies like Taiwan are able to defend themselves. Though the United Kingdom does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, we have a vibrant unofficial relationship, based on dynamic commercial, educational and cultural ties. This relationship delivers significant benefits to both the UK and Taiwan.

Ukraine: Referendums

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has discussed with relevant stakeholders the potential merits of proposals to hold a referendum in Ukraine's separate regions on joining the Russian state.

James Cleverly: The UK is steadfast in our commitment to upholding Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Any referendum that takes place on sovereign Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Government of Ukraine would be a further violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and we would not recognise it. Our position remains clear: Russia must withdraw its forces and military equipment from the entirety of Ukraine and cease its illegal war.

Egypt: Foreign Relations

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she plans to next meet with her Egyptian counterpart.

James Cleverly: As the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 21 June, she is meeting the Egyptian Foreign Minister during his upcoming visit to the UK.

Europe: Security

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for his policies of the debate which took place at the Council of Europe on Tuesday 21 June 2022 entitled Recent challenges to security in Europe: what role for the Council of Europe?; and what assessment she has made of the potential role of the Council of Europe in European security.

James Cleverly: The UK Government continues to call out Russia on their unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack against Ukraine, and we welcome the work of the Council of Europe and in particular Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe in this sphere. The UK and our international partners stand united in condemning Russia government's reprehensible actions, which are an egregious violation of international law and the UN Charter. We note that recommendations will go to the CoE Committee of Ministers in due course.

Egypt: Foreign Relations

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she will next meet the Egyptian Foreign Minister.

James Cleverly: As the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 21 June, she is meeting the Egyptian Foreign Minister during his upcoming visit to the UK.

Brazil: Food Supply

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report entitled 2nd National Survey on Food Insecurity 2022 in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Brazil, published by the Brazilian Research Network on Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security, what discussions she has had with her Brazilian counterpart on the findings that the number of people without full access to food in the state of Rio de Janeiro has increased by 400 per cent in the last four years.

Vicky Ford: We regularly engage with the Government of Brazil at Ministerial level and through our Embassy in Brazil on the issues of food security and commodity prices. During our visit to Brazil in March 2022, Minister Jayawardena and I discussed the impact of the Ukraine conflict on global food security.Through our climate partnership with Brazil the UK also supports Brazil's sustainable agriculture ambitions.The UK is working with Brazil and other international partners in multilateral fora, such as the World Trade Organisation, to monitor and address global food security issues, focusing on the ongoing benefits of open markets, and working to ensure that sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious food continues to available and accessible to all.

Haiti: Gangs

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Haitian counterpart on gang-related violence in that country.

Vicky Ford: I have not met with the Haitian Government's Foreign Minister to discuss the increase in criminal activity. However FCDO officials, including HM Ambassador to Haiti, have met with senior Haitian Government officials to discuss their response to the proliferation of violence. These meetings occur regularly, the last of which was held on 17 June.The continued deterioration of the security and human rights situation in Haiti is deeply abhorrent. We are aware of an increase in kidnappings, indiscriminate criminal violence, and instances of human trafficking.

Haiti: Development Aid

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government is providing assistance to Haiti in the context of reports that at least eight inmates have starved to death at an overcrowded prison.

Vicky Ford: We are aware of the reports of fatalities from malnutrition in a prison facility in Les Cayes, Haiti. These tragedies are rooted in the economic and health crises experienced in Haiti. They have been compounded by the devastating earthquake last year, and by the rise in global food prices resulting from Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, routes in and out of Port-Au-Prince, which may be used to transport supplies, are obstructed by an increase in criminal activity.Through our support to the United Nations (and other international organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations) we are providing assistance to the Haitian Government to address systemic in-country issues - including chronic hunger that impacts over 4.7million Haitians.We encourages all actors to work constructively to find solutions to the causes of these crises, and to support recovery and progress for the Haitian people.

Developing Countries: Development Aid

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that UK ODA spending is used to help the most vulnerable people escape cycles of violence in fragile and conflict affected states, in the context of reductions in the level of non-humanitarian funding allocated to the least developed countries.

Vicky Ford: As we set out in the International Development Strategy, we will target our work in Fragile and Conflict Affected States (FCAS), including ensuring our work takes account of the causes and effects of conflict. We will draw on our combined diplomatic, defence and development capabilities. We will also work both to prevent conflict, including tackling new threats from malign actors, and to reduce conflict and violence. We will continue to support the global goal of providing at least 0.2% of our gross national income to Least Developed Countries. In 2020, 56% of the UK's bilateral Official Development Assistance allocation went to low-income countries.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2022 to Question 1525 on Armed Forces: Sexual Offences, how many serving personnel are on the Sex Offender Register as of 8 June 2022.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has made it absolutely clear there is no place for unacceptable behaviour in the Armed Forces. On 30 March this year the MOD published a Zero-Tolerance to Sexual Offending policy which introduced mandatory discharge from the Armed Forces for anyone convicted of a sexual offence, this includes anyone subject to notification requirements as set out in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) 2003 (more widely recognised as the Sex Offenders Register). Prior to 30 March 2022, termination of Service was an option, but it was not mandatory. As of 8 June 2022, a total of 10 Serving personnel are on the Sex Offender Register. This figure has been rounded to 10 to limit disclosure and ensure confidentiality, in-line with Departmental rounding policy. Please note that this figure is based on data which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as that applied to our Official Statistics. Ministers are carefully considering further options for strengthening our Zero Tolerance policy taking legal advice.

Members: Correspondence

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he will respond to the correspondence of 26 January 2022 from the hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne on the evacuation of the Nowzad animal charity from Kabul.

Mr Ben Wallace: I have now responded to the right hon. Member's letter of 26 January 2022.

Defence: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether all current Invitation to Negotiate arrangements in the contracts awarded by his Department allow, in extremis, a route to Ministers.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the Right Hon. Gentleman to the letter I sent on 19 November 2020 (a copy of which I placed in the Library of the House) which made clear that no wording should be included in an Invitation to Tender which precludes contact being made, in extremis, with Ministers. I am conducting an exercise to ensure this remains the case and will write to the Right Hon. Gentleman and place a copy of the letter in the library of the House.

Shipbuilding: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total value of shipbuilding contracts awarded by his Department was in each year since 2015.

Jeremy Quin: I have interpreted the Right Hon. Gentleman’s question as referring to contracts for the building of new surface vessels. I have therefore not taken into account the ongoing programmes to manufacture Astute and Dreadnought Class submarines. On this basis two shipbuilding contracts have been awarded by the Ministry of Defence since 2015. In June 2017, a contract worth £3.58 billion was awarded to BAE Systems for the manufacture of three Type 26 frigates and in November 2019 a contract worth over £1.2 billion was awarded to Babcock for the design and build of five Type 31 frigates. Since 2015 the Ministry of Defence has also brought into service the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, the culmination of a £6 billion programme of UK shipbuilding, and the Tide Class of Royal Fleet Auxiliaries providing around £150 million of work to UK shipyards and other suppliers.

Warrior Armoured Vehicle

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of upgrading the Warrior.

Jeremy Quin: The decision not to extend the Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme (CSP) was announced by the Defence Secretary in 2021.. The intent remains to withdraw Warrior from service in conjunction with entry of new capabilities and concepts. We will continue to ensure the Warrior fleet remains effective until new capabilities are introduced into service.

Fleet Solid Support Ships

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he assesses the Fleet Solid Support Ship to be a warship.

Jeremy Quin: As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Defence has confirmed, including on 26 April 2021 (in his statement on the deployment of the Carrier Strike Group), for the purposes of procurement the Fleet Solid Support ships are considered to be warships. This has significance in the procurement route we choose to adopt, and we are not pursuing an international competition. This does not preclude international bidders from participating if they can meet the UK’s national security requirements, for example through a close partnership with UK companies.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2022 to Question 14426, if he will provide the location of the building which is 95 per cent partially clad with flammable cladding.

Jeremy Quin: The high-rise building, which has approximately 95% of external wall system containing combustible components, is Glenart Castle, Longbridge. Glenart Castle has a current Fire Risk Assessment in place and remains legally compliant for continued occupation.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2022 to Question 21086, what role the other 150 deployed as part of proposals to train Ukrainian troops will fulfil as part of that deployment.

James Heappey: Of the 1,050 UK Service personnel facilitating the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 150 are providing support for logistics and movement, medical support, processing and communications, and overall command and control. These personnel are held at readiness and may not necessarily support the training immediately or simultaneously.

Universal Credit: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2022 to Question 11554 on Social Security Benefits: Armed Forces, how many and what proportion of the 33,800 Universal Credit recipients with an Armed Forces background were in the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) Air Force.

Leo Docherty: The requested information is neither collected nor held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Data relating to Social Security Benefits is collected and held by the Department for Work and Pensions, who provided the figure of 33,800. As such, the MOD is unable to provide a breakdown of another Department's data or advise if that level of detail is recorded by them.

Army: Weapons

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that stocks of weapons used by the British Army do not deplete as a result of exports of arms to Ukraine.

James Heappey: Defence continually manages and reviews its stocks of weapons and munitions. This analysis informs the numbers of munitions granted in kind to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. There are regular strategic supplier conversations throughout Defence and the Department is fully engaged with industry, allies and partners to ensure that all equipment and munitions granted in kind are replaced as expeditiously as possible.

Armed Forces: Deployment

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department's personnel are deployed around the world; and in which locations those people are stationed.

James Heappey: The following table details the number of personnel deployed overseas on operations and their location. The numbers change depending on operational requirements, but are accurate at the time of answering the hon. Member's question.  Location Number of UK military deployedNumber of civilians deployedTotal number of military and civilians deployed Egypt202HMS Montrose1802182HMS Penzance41041HMS Chiddingfold45045RFACardigan Bay000HMS Middleton45045HMS Bangor36036HMS Trent61061HMS Spey46046HMS Tamar75075AbuDhabi (British Embassy)101Bahrain1882190Cyprus2146220Oman18018Qatar1320132UAE1100110USA23124Baghdad(British Embassy)101Iraq1893192Jordan12012Kuwait51354TelAviv(British Embassy)101Saudi Arabia240 Azerbaijan 00 0Pakistan(British High Commission)303Pakistan101Gibraltar303Mali4645469Democratic Republic of Congo101Kenya10010Somalia69069Djibouti505Tunisia(British Embassy)101Chad303Nigeria27027South Sudan303Estonia1,372141,386Germany81283Latvia202Lithuania89089Poland4143417Bosnia202Kosovo41041Ukraine97097Romania1971198Bulgaria202North Macedonia202Slovakia43043Finland101Sweden202Japan101Indonesia808Kuala Lumpur101Lebanon (British Embassy)707Ghana25025

Department for Work and Pensions

Carer's Allowance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of carers received Carer's Allowance but do not live with the person they care for in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in the most recent period for which data is available.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carers' Benefits

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of carers received both the (a) Carer’s Allowance and (b) Carer Premium in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in the most recent period for which data is available.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Carers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of carers received both Universal Credit and Carer's Allowance but not the carer element of Universal Credit in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in the most recent period for which data is available.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pension Credit: Carers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of carers received both (a) Pension Credit and (b) Carer Addition in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in the most recent period for which data is available.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Carers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of carers received both (a) the carer element of Universal Credit and (b) Carer's Allowance in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in the most recent period for which data is available.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit Programme Board: Public Appointments

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 31 May 2022 to Question 8086, on Universal Credit Programme Board: Public Appointments, for what reason the Universal Credit Programme Board is not (a) listed in the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019 and (b) subject to regulation by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

David Rutley: The Cabinet Office was notified and approved the appointment of a Non-executive Programme Board Chair. The UC Programme Board was not listed in the Public Appointment Order in Council 2019 as the Cabinet Office did not see it as necessary. Therefore, the UCPB is not a body subject to regulation by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Housing Benefit: Solihull

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is the Housing Benefit administration subsidy allocation for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in the 2022-23 financial year.

David Rutley: The allocations of Housing Benefit Administration Subsidy are published annually within Housing Benefit Subsidy Circulars. The allocations for 2022-23 can be found in Circular S6/2022 on www.gov.uk

Unemployment Benefits

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what (a) data sources and (b) management information her Department uses to assess how many people on out of work benefits move into work.

David Rutley: The Department uses internal Universal Credit (UC) Management Information and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Real Time Information data, to assess the number of people entering work.

Universal Credit Programme Board: Public Appointments

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the position of Chair of the Universal Credit Programme Board was advertised publicly prior to Sir Robert Walmsley’s appointment in July 2013.

David Rutley: The position of Chair of the Universal Credit Programme Board was not advertised. Sir Robert Walmsley was appointed on recommendation by the Major Project Authority(now Infrastructure and Projects Authority).

Universal Credit Programme Board

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will invite the new Chair of the Universal Credit Programme Board to publish a statement on his priorities for the Board’s work in the run-up to the managed migration phase of the roll-out of Universal Credit.

David Rutley: Managed migration phase restarted in May 2022. The first phase of this is a Discovery with controlled volumes, where we are working with small numbers of existing benefit claimants to identify how best to ensure people can smoothly transition to Universal Credit.

Children: Day Care

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the maximum amount claimable for childcare costs under Universal Credit compared with regional increases in the cost of childcare.

David Rutley: No such assessment has been made. In Universal Credit, working families can claim up to 85%, increased from 70% in legacy benefits, of their eligible registered childcare costs each month regardless of the hours worked. This equates to a maximum support of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children. The current childcare offer is comprehensive, broad ranging and reflects different family circumstances, covering children over a range of ages. We believe that helping parents with their childcare costs is one of the best ways to help people into work, support families with the cost of living, and ensure every child has the opportunity of a high-quality early education. The UC childcare policy aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes 15 hours per week free childcare for disadvantaged 2-year-olds and 3-&4-year-olds. This doubles to 30 hours per week free childcare for working parents of 3-&4-year-olds. The UC childcare element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and childcare required. This offer means that for some claimants’ childcare costs should not present any barriers to entering work.

Child Maintenance Service: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will assist with obtaining a response from the Director for the Child Maintenance Service to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire dated 27 April 2022, reference ZA59581 in relation to a child maintenance issue.

Guy Opperman: When DWP receive correspondence from a Member of Parliament, they aim to fully resolve or agree a resolution within 15 working days of receipt. Complex issues may take longer to resolve. DWP contacted the hon. Members office on 28 June 2022 confirming a full response will be sent to them within the next 7 days.

State Retirement Pensions: USA

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department provides advice and guidance for people who are trying to reconcile their pension when part of their contributions were made in the US under the agreement between that country and the UK.

Guy Opperman: If a customer has not paid enough National Insurance contributions to be entitled to a UK State Pension, but has worked and paid contributions in the USA, an investigation would take place to establish if contributions made in the USA can be taken into consideration towards a claimant’s UK State Pension, under the reciprocal agreement between the UK and USA.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she intends to respond to the correspondence of 29 April 2022 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire on a delayed state pension, reference ZA59597.

Guy Opperman: A response was sent to the hon. member on 30 June 2022.

Kickstart Scheme: Audit

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer received on 17 June to Question 15254, how long the audit will take.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 17 June to Question 15255, how long the audit will take.

Mims Davies: The 2021-22 ARA will be published on the 7 July. This year’s reported expenditure will include a breakdown of our Employment programmes expenditure.

Way to Work Scheme

Mark Eastwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people had secured a job as a result of the Way to Work campaign, as at 26 June 2022.

Mims Davies: As of 29 June, we estimate that at least 505,400 unemployed Universal Credit claimants and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and the end of 26 June 2022. This total figure is composed of our into work measure to the end of May (over 386,000) and our internal management information up to 26 June (58,900). We are now also able to include JSA claimants who have moved into work between 31 January and 9 June 2022 (35,100) into our total. Furthermore, we have also included those claimants with a sanction in place that moved into work during the period of the campaign up to 26 June (25,400). Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency and timeliness.

Way to Work Scheme

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 17 June to Question 15252, if his Department will publish the guidance produced in support of performance measures and delivery of the Way to Work campaign.

Mims Davies: Way to Work is a campaign to move 500,000 job-ready Universal Credit and Job Seekers Allowance claimants into work by the end of June 2022, it is not a new policy and we have not produced specific guidance in relation to Way to Work. The focus is to support people into work swiftly by using the strength of the jobs market and we are working closely with employers to help claimants into jobs quicker, as well as strengthening our core support for jobseekers. Universal Credit guidance is deposited in the House of Commons library twice a year, the latest published guidance was deposited on 26 April 2022 and can be found here.

Way to Work Scheme: East of England

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been moved into employment through the Way to Work scheme in (a) North West Norfolk, (b) Norfolk and (c) East Anglia.

Mims Davies: We estimate that so far 14,940 unemployed Universal Credit claimants in the East Anglia Jobcentre Plus District have moved into work during the Way to Work Campaign between 31 January and 19 June 2022. This cumulative figure is composed of our into work measure to the end of May (13,480) and our internal management information up to 19 June (1,460). This figure includes claimants with a sanction in place that moved into work during the period of the campaign (800). Unlike the Way to Work data published in response to PQ 19742, this does not include movements into work from JSA claimants as they cannot be broken down to Jobcentre Plus District level. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. We are unable to provide data relating to the North West Norfolk parliamentary constituency, the Norfolk local authority area, or the East Anglia Office for National Statistics (ONS) regional area as to produce it would incur disproportionate cost. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency and timeliness.

Jobcentres: Standards

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the performance management framework for (a) work coaches and (b) managers of Jobcentre Plus districts includes an assessment of the number of people in their caseloads who find work.

Mims Davies: Our Jobcentre teams are committed to delivering a quality service to ensure all claimants receive the best possible support to meet their individual circumstances. Our service delivery framework sets out the service expectations for our Jobcentre network and the requirements for how they deliver their services. The framework doesn't include an assessment of the number of people who move into work. Line managers coach their teams to ensure Work Coaches are skilled and empowered to manage their caseloads and are focussed on helping claimants move into or closer to work.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Housing: Air Pollution

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to support local authorities to limit domestic sources of air pollution, including wood burning stoves, as the leading cause of the air pollutant PM2.5.

Jo Churchill: Local authorities have a number of powers to tackle air pollution, such as introducing speed restrictions including on school streets, enforcing anti-idling laws and environmental permitting to reduce emissions from many local industries. On domestic sources of air pollution and specifically domestic burning, local authorities have the power to declare Smoke Control Areas (SCAs), where householders are not allowed to emit a substantial amount of smoke from a chimney. The recently introduced Environment Act makes it easier for local authorities to enforce SCA requirements by replacing the criminal offence applying to smoke emissions in SCAs with a civil penalty regime. Local authorities in England can now issue financial penalties of up to £300 to those emitting a substantial amount of smoke from their chimneys in an SCA. The Environment Act also extends the system of statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act to private dwellings in SCAs, enabling local authorities to take action against smoke emissions that are harmful to human health. To further support local authorities, we have also provided £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local nitrogen dioxide (NO2) reduction plans and to support those impacted by these plans. We also have awarded £11.6 million from Defra's annual Air Quality Grant Scheme to 40 local authorities in England for local projects to tackle air pollution. The scheme will reopen for applications later this year, building on more than £38 million investment so far since 2010.

Animals and Plants: Imports

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many border checks were conducted on (a) live animals and (b) high-risk plants in each of the last six months; and how many and what proportion of the (i) live animals and (ii) high-risk plants imported into the UK were subject to border checks in each of the last six months.

Victoria Prentis: To maintain our excellent biosecurity standards, the Government introduced import controls on the highest risk commodities from the European Union on 1 Jan 21 to complement the controls already in place for goods arriving from the rest of world. Over the last 6 months, we have had 3,157 live animal consignments from outside the EU, which were subjected to 100% documentary and physical checks at the border, and 26,396 animal consignments from the EU (accounting for 1,644,197 animals - excluding fish, insects, and other arthropods - and 29,494,729 hatching eggs) which were all subject to documentary checks and 4,462 (17%) were subject to physical checks at destination. Physical checks of the highest risk commodities at destination mirror previous live animal movement controls in the EU prior to 2021 and will remain in operation until the necessary live animal Border Control Posts are operational. Some 1,178 high-priority plants were imported in the last 6 months from outside the EU and all were subject to documentary checks with 1,058 (90%) receiving physical checks. Import checks of 'high-priority' plants imported to GB from the EU were introduced on 1 January 2021, recognising the relative biosecurity risk that these goods pose. To support businesses as these controls were introduced, temporary easements have been implemented to help manage checks at Places of Destination. These easements, which will cease when we implement our Target Operating Model in 2023, have the effect of supressing the number of notifications made. Noting this, the total number of consignments of these goods declared for entry into GB between 16 January 2022 and 16 June 2022 was 45,050 of which 8,581 (19%) were subject to risk-based physical and identity checks.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many workers have successfully obtained visas through the 2022 Seasonal Workers visa route as of 27 June 2022; and how many of those workers are residing in the UK.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many workers had successfully obtained visas through the 2021 Seasonal Worker visa route as of 27 June 2021; and how many of those workers were residing in the UK.

Victoria Prentis: Details of the numbers of visas granted for seasonal workers as of 27 June 2021, through the Seasonal Worker Visa Route, have been published in the usual way via the Home Office’s quarterly immigration statistics. Similarly, details of the numbers granted as at June this year will be published in the Home Office’s immigration statistics. All workers entering the UK via the Seasonal Worker Visa Route will reside in the UK for the length of stay of their visas.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of seasonal worker vacancies in the UK as of 27 June 2022.

Victoria Prentis: Defra works with the agriculture sector and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, including for both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the farming workforce. After a series of successful pilots, the Seasonal Workers Visa Route has been progressively expanded and on 24 December 2021 it was announced that the visa route would be extended to 2024 and expanded to include ornamental horticulture workers, providing more certainty for the horticulture sector. In 2022 this provides 30,000 visas, valid for 6 months, with scope for up to 10,000 more visas if there is evidence of need. Following an announcement in the Food Strategy White Paper the extra 10,000 visas have now been released for the Seasonal Worker visa route (bringing the total to 40,000 visas for 2022) with 8,000 of these going to the horticulture sector and 2,000 to the poultry sector.

Hemp: Production

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) developing hemp production in the UK and (b) simplifying the regulations governing such production.

Victoria Prentis: Hemp is a long-standing crop in UK agriculture with a variety of uses, and Defra has an interest in exploring the benefits to UK farmers. Defra has commissioned a research project, “Review of opportunities for diversifying UK agriculture through investment in underutilised crops”, which includes industrial hemp. This will examine hemp cultivation from a grower and consumer standards perspective, alongside its environmental benefits. We are also considering the role of industrial hemp in the bioeconomy and the opportunities for our agriculture sector. An enhanced evidence base will help us to better understand how novel crops can contribute to achieving environmentally sustainable actions and make informed decisions about hemp cultivation. When these studies conclude, Home Office and Defra will work together to take forward any recommendations to help farmers navigate the licencing system and make sure all related processes are fit for purpose.

Barbecues: Environment Protection

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Oral contribution of the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Official Report, column 360WH, when her Department plans to commence the research into the extent of damage caused to (a) peatlands and (b) other landscapes by disposable barbecues and portable stoves; what he plans that commissioned research to cover; and what his timeline is for publishing the finding of that research.

Jo Churchill: We are commissioning research to examine the impact on the environment, including peatlands, of barbecues and other flammable items, including sky lanterns and portable stoves, in order to support potential regulation. We expect this research to be completed in due course, when we will be in a position to consider further action.

Platinum Jubilee 2022

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to announce details of how thePlatinum Jubilee fund will be administered.

Rebecca Pow: Detail of how the Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Improvement Grant Fund will be administered will be published in the autumn.

FareShare: Finance

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will commit to annual funding of £5 million for FareShare, the food waste charity.

Jo Churchill: This is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only.The Defra food waste prevention programme has provided grants of nearly £12m to over 300 organisations since 2018. FareShare was awarded around £3m of funding, helping to set up the Surplus with Purpose Fund, and supporting the infrastructure required to distribute surplus food. Whilst we are not planning any further grants, we remain committed to food waste prevention action, investing £2.6 million this year to combat food waste in the supply chain and in the home through working with the Waste and Resources Action Plan (WRAP).

Home Office

Pupils: Refugees

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many school age children have (a) arrived in the UK via the (i) Ukraine Family Scheme and (ii) Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and (b) have secured a school place as of 27 June 2022.

Kevin Foster: We estimate that as of 27 May 9,900 offers have been made to children from Ukraine from the two sponsorship schemes. This data is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-placements-for-children-from-outside-of-the-uk/2022-mayThe Department for Education’s second monthly data collection for Local Authorities to submit data to update the numbers of school places offered to children from outside of the UK will be open between 29 June and 5 July. DfE intends to publish this data mid-July.Information on the number of visas granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and arrivals in the UK of relevant visa holders can be found in our published data on the GOV.UK webpage: Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (www.gov.uk). We are not however able to provide a breakdown to show how many of those arriving in the UK under either scheme were school age children.

Sexual Harassment: Public Places

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that women and children are protected from public sexual harassment.

Rachel Maclean: Sexual harassment in public places is appalling, and this Government is committed to tackling it. Women and girls have the right to both be and feel safe on our streets.In the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, published in July 2021, we committed to a series of non-legislative actions to help tackle this issue. As a result of those commitments:- In September 2021 the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council launched a pilot tool, StreetSafe, which enables the public to report anonymously areas where they feel unsafe, so that local authorities and the police can take practical steps in response, such as improved CCTV and street lighting, as well as deploying an increased police presence. As of 24 June, almost 18,000 people have submitted reports using the tool.- In October 2021 the Home Office announced awards of £23.5 million to Police and Crime Commissioners and local authorities under Round 3 of the Safer Streets Fund, to make public spaces safer for everyone through projects to help women and girls feel safer on the streets. Most of the projects which were awarded funding involved activity to deter offending such as increased CCTV surveillance, as well as changing attitudes towards violence against women and girls.- In December 2021 the College of Policing published a new advice product for police officers, advising them about the preventative strategies and criminal offences which they can use to respond to reports of various different types of public sexual harassment.- In March 2022 we launched the ‘Enough’ communications campaign, which seeks to change public attitudes and tolerance towards crimes such as public sexual harassment and to help create an atmosphere in which women and girls can report such crimes to the police with confidence.The Strategy also confirmed that we were looking carefully at where there may be gaps in existing law and how a specific offence for public sexual harassment could address those. As a result of this work, we will by the summer recess begin a consultation on whether there should be a new offence of public sexual harassment.

Home Office: Consultants

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office does hold information on consultancy spending and reports this in the Annual Report and Accounts.Refer to the links and pages below for the available published information that relates to consultancy spending.Pages 99-101 of the 2020-21 Home Office Annual Report and AccountsHO annual report and accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk)Pages 88-89 of the 2019-20 Home Office Annual Report and AccountsHome Office annual report and accounts 2019 - 2020 (publishing.service.gov.uk) Pages 79-80 of the 2018-19 Home Office Annual Report.Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19 (publishing.service.gov.uk) Pages 71-72 of the 2017-18 Home Office Annual Report.Home Office Annual Report - 2017-18 (publishing.service.gov.uk)Pages 59-61 (Pages 61-63 on the PDF reader) of the 2016-17 Home Office Annual Report.ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) Information relating to financial year 2021-22 will be available once the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts have been laid before Parliament. This is expected to be prior to the summer recess.

Fuel Oil: Theft

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the theft of domestic heating oil.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided recent guidance to the police on preventing the theft of domestic heating oil.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of domestic heating oil theft have been recorded by the police in the last year.

Kit Malthouse: This Government recognises the devastating impact theft and other forms of neighbourhood crime has on communities and businesses. That is why we are recruiting 20,000 extra police officers and have introduced the Safer Streets Fund to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place, supporting the deployment of solutions such as home security, increased street lighting and CCTV in high crime areas.The Home Office has not provided specific guidance to the police on preventing the theft of domestic heating oil. Practical crime prevention advice on reducing the risk of fuel theft, including domestic heating oil, is published on the Secured by Design website, developed by the Police Crime Prevention Initiatives: https://www.securedbydesign.com/guidance/crime-prevention-advice/fuel-theft.The Home Office does not hold data on domestic heating oil thefts.

Roads: Accidents

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce a review into the conduct of road death investigations by police forces.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had recent discussions with the Road Collision Investigation Branch on trends in the level of investigations into road traffic fatalities.

Kit Malthouse: The Government consulted from October to December 2021 on the potential to create a Road Collision Investigation Branch. The Government published its response to the consultation on 29 June, announcing our intention to create a Road Safety Investigation Branch. This Branch will operate independently of Government and the police to better understand the causes of road collisions, with the aim of reducing death and injury on our roads.The Home Office have no plans to introduce a review into the conduct of road death investigations.

Threat to Life Notices

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what statistics her Department holds on the number of Osman warnings (threat to life notices), issued by police forces in England in each of the last ten years for which data is available.

Kit Malthouse: The information requested is not centrally held.The Home Office collects and publishes data on use of various police powers and procedures, available here: Police powers and procedures England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)However, information on Osman warnings is not collected.

British Nationality

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance document Affordability fee waiver: Citizenship registration for individuals under the age of 18, published on 26 May 2022, for what reasons her policy objectives in that assessment do not include reference to the objective in the British Nationality Act 1981 that British citizenship is held by all persons sharing connection to the UK; and whether it is her Department's policy for that objective to be met through the Citizenship registration process for individuals under the age of 18.

Kevin Foster: The guidance ‘Applications for a citizenship fee waiver for individuals under the age of 18’ sets out the policy on applications that may be eligible for a fee waiver or exception, not the Home Office’s overarching nationality policy.The registration provisions within the BNA 1981 allow for children with a close connection to the UK to be registered as a British citizen. The Home Office’s Nationality policy is published on gov.uk and guidance on citizenship can be accessed via the following link: British citizenship (nationality guidance) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Passports: Applications

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fast-track passport appointments have been released by HMPO in (a) May 2022 and (b) since 1 June 2022.

Kevin Foster: Appointments for urgent services are released three weeks in advance. While this means new appointments are released daily, in busy periods these will be booked quickly.Her Majesty’s Passport Office therefore continues to explore options to further increase appointment capacity to support its customers with urgent travel needs.This work has led to the recent opening of an eighth public counter offering urgent service appointments, and further increasing appointment availability to help support those people who need their passport more quickly.

Members: Correspondence

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department respond to MP's casework enquiries.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is her Department’s average response time is to MP’s casework enquires.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is her Department’s target response time is to MP’s casework enquiries.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of the timeliness of her Department's response to MP’s casework enquires.

Kevin Foster: There are 106 staff employed in the UK Visas and Immigration MP's correspondence team.Performance against target has been impacted by a significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, including the unprecedented amount of correspondence about the situation in Afghanistan and more recently in Ukraine.The Department continues to prioritise enquiries related to Ukraine and recognises it has not been able to meet service standard in other cases. Actions are being taken to clear backlogs and drive-up performance. MPs can escalate urgent and compassionate cases via the team at Portcullis House.The Department continues to recruit additional resources and has recently been loaned staff from non-operational areas to assist in clearing the backlogs. A detailed recovery plan to support a return to an acceptable service standard is being prepared.Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-q1-2022

Home Office: Consultants

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on consultancy fees in each year since 2017.

Rachel Maclean: The Home Office does hold information on consultancy spending and reports this in the Annual Report and Accounts.Refer to the links and pages below for the available published information that relates to consultancy spending.Pages 99-101 of the 2020-21 Home Office Annual Report and AccountsHO annual report and accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk)Pages 88-89 of the 2019-20 Home Office Annual Report and AccountsHome Office annual report and accounts 2019 - 2020 (publishing.service.gov.uk) Pages 79-80 of the 2018-19 Home Office Annual Report.Home Office Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19 (publishing.service.gov.uk) Pages 71-72 of the 2017-18 Home Office Annual Report.Home Office Annual Report - 2017-18 (publishing.service.gov.uk)Pages 59-61 (Pages 61-63 on the PDF reader) of the 2016-17 Home Office Annual Report.ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) Information relating to financial year 2021-22 will be available once the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts have been laid before Parliament. This is expected to be prior to the summer recess.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing: Planning Permission

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many planning applications for the construction of new homes in England he has (a) called in and (b) recovered; and how many of those planning applications were on greenfield sites.

Stuart Andrew: All decisions taken by Ministers on called-in applications and recovered appeals are published. They can be found on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-applications-called-in-decisions-and-recovered-appeals

Evictions

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether sale of a property will continue to be a valid ground on which to end a tenancy once plans to abolish section 21 evictions are implemented.

Eddie Hughes: As well as abolishing section 21 'no fault' evictions, we will introduce comprehensive, fair and efficient grounds to ensure landlords have confidence they can regain possession when it is reasonable. This includes introducing a new mandatory ground for landlords who wish to sell their property. To protect tenants' security, landlords will not be able to use this ground in the first six months of a tenancy.These reforms to the grounds for possession are set out in the government response to our consultation 'A New Deal for Renting', published alongside our White Paper on 16 June 2022.

Housing: Vacant Land

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many planning applications for the construction of new homes on greenfield sites in England have been granted in the last five years; and how many of those applications have been upheld at appeal by the Planning Inspectorate.

Stuart Andrew: The data required to answer this question are not held centrally.

Parking: Fees and Charges

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will consider introducing a mandatory grace period for (a) drivers who leave a parking bay within 10 minutes without buying a ticket and (b) drivers who are unable to buy a parking ticket within 10 minutes as result of delays and failures in the relevant ticket delivery system.

Neil O'Brien: The 10-minute grace period at the end of paid for or free parking became mandatory for all Civil Enforcement Authorities in England on 6 April 2015. The grace period only applies at the end of permitted paid-for or free parking at local authority owned or operated car parks. It does not apply at the start of a period of parking, nor in circumstances where the driver was not permitted to park (i.e. outside the hours of permitted operation of on-street parking). There are no plans to mandate councils to give 10 minutes of free parking when parking begins.   Statutory guidance makes clear that if an on-street parking meter or pay-and-display machine is out of order (and parking has not been suspended and clearly indicated as such to motorists), motorists should not be issued with a parking charge notice unless alternative means of payment were available to the driver and clearly indicatedSome private parking operators currently offer 10-minute grace periods. However, the new Private Parking Code of Practice my department is currently reviewing will make it a requirement across the country to provide a fixed consideration period of at least 5 minutes to ensure that motorists have an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the parking terms and conditions and give a minimum 10-minute grace period after their tickets expire.

Building Safety Fund

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the statement in Building Safety Fund Annex A - Technical: Measuring the height of your building that the measurement should be taken from the lowest ground level, how his Department defines that level in relation to (a) lower ground floors and (b) basement flats which are partly but not fully underground and the floor above is the first floor; and whether the measurement of height should start at (I) the lowest part of street level, (b) the lower ground floor, (c) floor level, (d) the first floor level or (e) another level.

Stuart Andrew: The height of a building for the purpose of the Building Safety Fund, as set out in the Building Safety Fund: Annex A - Technical Information, should be measured in accordance with Diagram D6 of Approved Document B (Fire Safety) to the Building Regulations, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-approved-document-b.This specifies that the height should be measured from the upper floor surface of the top floor to ground level on the lowest side of building. Diagram D6 clearly demonstrates that this measurement is taken externally. Therefore items such as lower ground floors and basement flats which are understood to be internal features of a building are generally not considered.

Leasehold: Reform

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May to Question 6932 on Leasehold Reform, and with reference to the statement by The Minister of State, Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government of 9 June 2021, HOL Col 281GC, whether he still intends to bring forward the remaining leasehold reforms, which were recommended by the Law Society report of July 2020, in this session of parliament.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to creating a fair and just housing system that works for everyone. This includes our comprehensive programme of reform to improve fairness and transparency in the leasehold market. In the next Parliamentary Session, we will legislate to reform the leasehold and commonhold systems, helping millions of households genuinely to own their own home.

Cabinet Office

Prime Minister: Correspondence

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime Minister plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for North Durham of 16 August 2021 regarding Ultra Electronics.

Michael Ellis: The Prime Minister's office has no record of receiving this correspondence. If the hon. Member would like to supply a further copy, a reply will be sent.

Department for International Trade

Trade Promotion: Mexico

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has held discussions with the Prime Minister on appointing a Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Mexico.

Mike Freer: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Developing Countries Trading Scheme

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what human rights safeguards her Department plans to include in its proposed Developing Countries Trading Scheme.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she will publish the final Developing Countries Trading Scheme.

Penny Mordaunt: On 23rd June, the Prime Minister announced that the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) will be launched on 6th July 2022. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade will lead the launch. HM Government believes that growing trading relationships increases UK influence in open conversations with partners on a range of difficult issues, including human rights. The UK will continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold international human rights obligations and hold those who violate human rights to account.

Foreign Investment in UK

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to increase foreign direct investment into (a) Solihull constituency and (b) England.

Mike Freer: The Department for International Trade’s regional teams engage with Metro Mayors, local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), local authorities, and our overseas network to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in England, supporting 925 single site projects and creating 28,012 new jobs in 2020-21. The Department leads several activities promoting FDI across the UK through mechanisms such as the Investment Atlas, our High Potential Opportunities Programme, and the GREAT global trade campaign. We continue to promote Solihull’s investment capabilities through schemes such as Arden Cross. This is one of the UK’s largest development projects, which will be crucial to the Government’s levelling up agenda.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Innovation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much money the Gambling Commission has spent on investigating novel products in each of the last 5 years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) employees and (b) consultants that are employed by the Gambling Commission with the relevant technical experience to investigate new technologies.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff who are employed by the Gambling Commission who have previously worked in the (a) technology, (b) digital assets, (c) cryptoassets or (d) NFT sectors.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of Gambling Commission investigations into novel products have been brought to prosecution; what proportion of those prosecutions have been successful, and on average how long investigations take prior to prosecution.

Chris Philp: The Gambling Commission has both regulatory and criminal powers, and its investigation remit covers either regulatory failing by licensees (under LCCP) or criminal offences (under the Gambling Act 2005). The Commission does not record whether an investigation is related to a novel product, but in response to the collapse of BetIndex Limited, the Commission updated how it assesses risk so that novel products are properly considered.The Commission often refuses a licence to operators if they are shown to be novel at the licence application stage (e.g. if they use cryptocurrency as a source of funds or intend to offer consumers cryptocurrency as a route to play). It cannot bring a prosecution under the Gambling Act 2005 regarding an aspect of a product which is outside of its remit.The Gambling Commission at all times strives to recruit people with the skills, knowledge and diversity required to regulate the fast moving and innovative gambling sector but it does not retain information on where its staff join from and on the scope of their earlier careers. As well as staff with specialisms in areas of gambling such as cryptocurrency and NFTs, the Commission’s market insights specialists help anticipate industry developments.All staff in the Commission’s Operations team (around 30% of its workforce) have the technical experience to investigate novel products and new technologies and where content is challenging, call on subject matter experts as appropriate (internal or external). The most recent estimate for the Commission’s overall headcount was around 320.In order to help equip the Commission to tackle the rate of technological change, four years ago the Commission established a Digital Advisory Panel to advise on the digital landscape and emerging trends which may impact on how the gambling market operates, how the Commission interacts with operators and how they interact with consumers. The Digital Advisory Panel works with staff to explore the impact of emerging technologies on the Commission’s regulatory and policy work to ensure that they are a future-fit and effective regulator.The Commission does not comment on ongoing cases. Each case has its own circumstances, and the length of prosecution depends on the case complexity and the court process.

Culture Recovery Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it was possible for the Culture Recovery Fund to be used to top up furloughed staff in order that they received full remuneration.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government’s Job Retention Scheme rules evolved throughout the pandemic, as did the Culture Recovery Fund's interaction with them. Details on the eligible and ineligible costs can be found in the relevant fund guidance documents for the different rounds.The most recent set of fund guidance documents (from November 2021) states that "The optional salary costs not covered by the Government’s Job Retention Scheme for hours not worked by staff on furlough, or any additional optional salary costs for hours not worked about the furloughing cap" were not an eligible cost. However organisations should consult the relevant guidance for the appropriate round of the scheme that their grant pertains to.

Culture Recovery Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether there were any restrictions on the way the Culture Recovery Fund could be used in a pay award.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department issued guidance on the optimal distribution of funds between different levels of employees in the event that the Culture Recovery Fund was used to provide pay uplifts by organisations.

Nigel Huddleston: Culture Recovery Fund resource grants were awarded subject to terms and conditions.There was some variation in the language of the terms and conditions between Arm’s Length Bodies. However, it was standard that grantees were required to exercise pay restraint for at least 18 months from the date of their Grant Agreement, where legally possible for them to do so. This included – but was not limited to – imposing a pay freeze for all senior employees (defined as staff earning over £100,000) and a 10% pay reduction in remuneration to the pre-Covid-19 remuneration packages for employees contracted to receive above £150,000 per year.DCMS did not issue any guidance on the optimal distribution of funds between different levels of employees within organisations.

Tourism: Solihull

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase tourism in Solihull constituency.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government is committed to supporting tourism recovery in the UK, which is why we published the Tourism Recovery Plan in June 2021.In March 2022, the national tourist board and DCMS’ arms-length body, VisitBritain, welcomed 9 international trade buyers from Canada to the West Midlands for an educational visit. In May 2022, VisitBritain took part in a global multinational press trip to Birmingham to promote the Commonwealth Games and the wider region. Ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, VisitBritain is promoting the West Midlands as a premier UK holiday destination, focusing on key markets in Australia, India, and Canada.VisitBritain has done extensive work with the West Midlands Growth Company on the business events front including marketing support, North American trade mission support, and opportunities to participate in trade shows at heavily discounted rates.Birmingham was also a featured city in VisitBritain’s GREAT funded £10 million ‘Welcome to Another Side of Britain’ international campaign. Birmingham was also a featured city in VisitEngland’s recent ‘Escape the Everyday’ domestic marketing campaign, which encouraged people to book a city break in spring.

Leisure: Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to introduce cheaper entry for young people to (a) heritage, (b) sport and (c) arts venues and activities during the 2022 summer holidays.

Nigel Huddleston: DCMS is committed to increasing access to its sectors for young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This includes a range of ongoing policies, for example, supporting free-entry to Museums and Galleries and numerous English Heritage historic monuments, buildings and sites. We are also encouraging sporting bodies to enable access to major sporting events for people, particularly children, from more deprived backgrounds. This year, we have worked closely with the Football Association on the ‘Invitations’ programme for the UEFA Women’s European Championships, ensuring tickets are available through the government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme.

Youth Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to put in place provisions for community activities for children and young people during the 2022 summer holidays.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she had with leaders of local authorities on the provision of activities for children and young people during the 2022 summer holidays.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure the sufficiency of youth work services to support and keep young people safe during the 2022 summer holidays.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make additional funding available for youth services to work with young people during the 2022 summer holidays.

Nigel Huddleston: Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need, this includes provision during the summer holidays. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion last year.DCMS has been working closely with the Department for Education on the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme, which will provide disadvantaged children and families with access to healthy food and enriching activities during the longer school holidays. The Department for Education is making over £600 million available to Local Authorities in England over the next 3 years to deliver this programme with the funding being distributed through all 152 local authorities in England.In addition, the DCMS funded National Citizen Service (NCS) is running a range of activities during the 2022 summer holidays, providing access to adventures away from home, skills development, engaging in local community projects and volunteering opportunities for thousands of young people across the country.

Football: Non-fungible Tokens

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the revenue opportunities on offer from the growing NFT industry for English football.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government has not made a specific assessment of whether Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) can benefit football in England.The Cryptoassets Taskforce, consisting of Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT), the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), was established in 2018 to explore the impact of crypto assets and the potential benefits and challenges of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in financial services, as well as assessing what, if any, regulation is required in response. HMT is not currently proposing to bring NFTs into regulation.

Exercise: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve the level of physical activity in Ipswich through (a) grassroots sport and (b) other means.

Nigel Huddleston: Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and this government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.Since 2018, the government has invested £528,357 into a range of grassroots sport projects within Ipswich through Sport England, for example the Ipswich BMX club, the School Games Organisers and through National Leisure Recovery Fund.The Government also invests £18 million each year in community sport facilities via the Football Foundation. In partnership with the Football Association and Premier League, this results in £70 million being invested into community sport facilities every year.

Women and Equalities

Political Parties: Equality

John Howell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the debate entitled The role of political parties in fostering diversity and inclusion: a new Charter for a non-racist society which took place on 20 June 2022 at the Council of Europe; and whether the Government is in favour of a new Charter.

Kemi Badenoch: I have made no assessment of the implications of the debate or the new Charter on government policy as the Charter is aimed at political parties, but we appreciate the work of the Council of Europe and in particular PACE in this sphere. The government's roadmap for fostering diversity and inclusion is set out in Inclusive Britain, which I published on 17 March.